The charter usually conferred a trading monopoly upon the company in a specific geographic area or for a specific type of trade item. The earliest English chartered companies were the Merchant Adventurers ( q.v.) and the Merchant Staplers.
Do chartered companies still exist?
The development of the modern limited-liability company or corporation under successive companies acts led to a decline in the importance of chartered companies. Some of the older ones still exist, however, including the Hudson’s Bay Company. chartered company, type of corporation that evolved in the early modern era in Europe.
Who were the earliest chartered companies?
The earliest English chartered companies were the Merchant Adventurers ( q.v.) and the Merchant Staplers. Such early companies were regulated companies, deriving the principles of their organization from the medieval merchant guilds.
