Denmark was one of the first countries to establish a paperless bond market. The Danish Securities Centre was established, and paper-based securities trading was replaced by an electronic registration and settlement system. The Danish Securities Centre was organised as a private self-governing institution with a Board appointed by the Minister for Industry and representing the sectors directly affected by the Centre's activities. In 2000 the Danish Securities Centre was converted into a limited liability company, VP Securities Services, with Danmarks Nationalbank as one of its shareholders. At present Danmarks Nationalbank owns 24 per cent of the shares in VP Securities Services.