Govt's past experiments with bearer bonds

The electoral bonds proposed in the Budget could very well be the first of its kind in the world, but the instrument has been used for such experimentation in the country.
 
An electoral bond is a kind of bearer instrument issued by banks on behalf of a political party. Since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the bond-issuing authority, the government would have to amend the RBI Act so that the central bank is left out of the process.
 
Bearer bonds were the norms before a system was developed to institutionalise the bond market. It is called