Sameinaða Erlendur Kaupsýsla Einokun Félagið

The coat of arms of the company. The horse was a representation of the flying, sea-treading horse Hófvarpnir, which is the horse of the godddess Gná. The colour gold symbolized wealth, and the colour blue symbolized the sea, which was essential for the trade and other commercial ventures of the Valtian Vikings.

Sameinaða Erlendur Kaupsýsla Einokun Félagið (SEKEF; Storish for "united foreign commerce monopoly company") was a Storish company which had monopoly on all imports to and exports from Stormark. It was thus a rich and powerful company, one of the richest in the world along with the ESB Group. The company collapsed in 1685 through the implosion of Stormark.

In its hey-day in the 1640s, it had branches, outside Stormark, in Elwynn/Shireroth, Constancia, Natopia, Caputia, Craitland, Senya, and many other countries.

History

The SEKEF was founded during Storish high king Harald's conquest of the Heartland (1476–1479), with the purpose of augmenting the power of the Stormark by expanding external trade to prop up its coffers and increasing the national territory as well as the lands under Storish jurisdiction by means of colonization and other territorial acquisitions. Eyði Gíslason was the first Chief Executive of the SEKEF. Using his abilities and resources, he was responsible for the part of SEKEF's success whereby Stormark acquired lands and countries in rapid succession and the company in a very short time.

History of Activities in Elwynn

The SEKEF came to Elwynn during the days of the reign of Sirithil nos Fëanor (c1473–1476). Having already established itself in the Wintergleam area, it was invited by the Duchess Sirithil to do business in Elwynn under very generous terms to help meeting the insatiable demand from the Elfinshi elite for luxury goods.

Although the existence of the SEKEF was not attested in the accessible historical record – caused by the strict, and brutally enforced, veil of secrecy the corporation maintained regarding its very profitable activities in Elwynn – it is presumed that its assets were appropriated during the era of the Coordinated State and the following period of communist rule before being restored by Steward Hallbjörn Haraldsson on behalf of his son King Noah of Elwynn.

In Elwynn, SEKEF received strong privileges with favour from King Noah. It was the richest company in Elwynn until its Elwynnese and Shirerithian dissolution in 1651 following the Auspicious Occasion, after which its assets were nationalised and thereafter privatised and sold out.

History in Stormark

Blurb

Twilight years

After the Auspicious Occasion in 1651, Stormark lost its largest trading partner, and SEKEF lost considerable assets in Elwynn and across Shireroth, as well as trade with Shireroth. Shireroth then led a diplomatic and trade boycott of Stormark, including SEKEF. SEKEF had to vacate Natopia, losing assets there as well, partly as a response to the trade boycott but also for religious reasons. The company weakened and had losses for the first time in its history in the 1650s before picking up in 1671 by establishing trade routes with West Amokolia. It was all in vain, however, as Stormark collapsed in 1685, taking with itself SEKEF into the ashes.

The remnants of SEKEF in post-1685 Lyrica, prior to the establishment of Hurmu in 1690 and Nouvelle Alexandrie's conquest of the rest of the continent, were divided up by various war lords. Thereafter, in Hurmu, the few remaining assets were nationalized.

Organization

The structure of the SEKEF was, with certain exceptions, similar to that of a publically held corporation with shareholders and a board of directors. The High King was ex officio a member of the board of directors as chairman. He appointed and removed all other directors at will.

The major shareholders of the SEKEF were the House of Ettlingar Freyu, the State, its Jarldoms, and houses of nobility. Since the major shareholders held onto their very profitable stock in the SEKEF, which was widely regarded as highly profitable in terms of dividends, only few of its shares were traded on the Haithabu Stock Exchange and were highly sought after by investors.