500 riksdaler specie, Svenska Ost- Indiska Compangniet, 1782
Kings have been granting letters of privilege, known as Royal Charters, for different types of economic activities since at least the 17th century. For example, the Swedish East India Company had exclusive rights to trade with East Asia between 1731 and 1813.
The Royal Charters were time-limited. The second Royal Charter, for example, lasted from 1746 to 1766. The activity then had to be wound up when Royal Charter expired. In legal terms, this did not involve one and the same company over time, but different ones that succeeded one another like pearls on a string.
One disadvantage for the owners of these early companies was that they themselves could be liable to pay with their own wealth if their business did not go well. The first real limited liability company law in Sweden did not appear until 1848(49), 35 years after the East India Company ceased operations.