Immediately after the Osaka Nomura Bank was set up, a Securities Section was created to handle bond sales and underwriting. With the Japanese economy still expanding and bond issues increasing, business was good. Paradoxically, it was the end of the boom that provided the spur for certain administrative changes designed to foster the development of a much more active bond market. Early in 1920, a slump in the stock market led to general disillusionment with investment in stocks. The government attempted to capitalize on this situation by encouraging the buying of government bonds.