Since the late 1970s, bond issuance volume has been in the range of Dfl20 to 60 billion per annum. For 1996, the Dutch Ministry of Finance has announced a gross borrowing requirement of Dfl39 billion. In the last couple of years, issues have concentrated in 10-year and over bullets. A number of foreign financial institutions, including J.P. Morgan, have been authorized to deal in the ATM as special corporate members. Market participants are not obliged to use the IDB and may trade among themselves.
All new issues are in bullet form.
The basic structure of nonbullet issues consists of a certain grace period of three to five years, followed by a series of equal annual installments at par. In the OTC market, normal trading sizes are Dfl25 to 50 million, but smaller tickets are often written. For less liquid issues, there is no two-way market and a counterparty must be located. There is no withholding tax on interest payments. Custodian banks tend to keep most of their securities at Necigef, a central depository.