It is something of which every finance director dreams - having a sufficiently good credit rating that you can borrow money that need not be repaid for 100 years. So-called 'century bonds' are not a new idea. The British government actually went one better in the 18th and 19th centuries by issuing so-called 'Consols' which carried no maturity date - in other words, the principal never required repaying. In fact, when the London Stock Exchange - the world's first regulated stock exchange - launched in 1801, British government debt was the only security traded on it. Such bonds were issued, for example, to pay for ... (full story)