ABSTRACT
Securities represent the standardization of personal indebtedness. Some authorities trace the origin of endorsable bills of exchange to Venice, where they were made illegal by a law of December 14, 1593. It is generally accepted that the endorsing of bills of exchange had been fully developed prior to the 17th century, and the first complete legal recognition of such endorsement was found in Holland. The modern form of security can therefore not be found before the 18th century. The earliest bonds issued for public loans were addressed to some individual lender, and it was long before they changed their character and became "general" instruments. The electrical industry is the best example. From its first foundations it represented a new type. Hitherto the great capitalistic industries regarded their work as finished when they had obtained and carried out their orders.
