A trade company is a collection of provinces in a trade company region that give the owner less tax, manpower, and sailors, but more trade power, trade goods (including production income) and naval force limit, than if the owner included them in states. Trade companies may be formed by any nation in any of the 63 trade company regions throughout the old world, provided they are not on the same superregion as the nation's capital. They are listed in the subject nation panel in the UI, but, unlike the English HEIC or Dutch VOC in real history, they do not actually have their own armies or administration – the land remains entirely under the nation's direct control.
Each trade company region is associated with a trade node, and contains exactly those provinces that are part of that trade node. To start a trade company, you can add all your eligible provinces in the node at once in the trade node UI, or one by one in the province UI. To be eligible, a province must not be part of a state, and any province that becomes part of a state will suffer automatic removal from the trade company. Removing a province from a trade company gives the "Left Trade Company" modifier for 5 years, preventing it from being added back during its duration as well as giving a −200% local goods produced modifier. Note that moving your capital to a superregion where you have provinces in a trade company remove them from that trade company and apply this modifier.
Colonizing provinces in a trade company region does not change the local culture and religion, unlike in other regions; this rule applies even if the nation is unable to add such provinces to a trade company due to its capital being in the same continent as the provinces.
Positive bonuses to local unrest from tolerated heretics are kept.
Do not contribute to religious unity, regardless of religion.
Do not have the embraced institutions of their owner spread to them. However, institutions may still spread through adjacency.
Allow centers of trade to be upgraded.
When a trade company controls 51%[2] of all the provincial trade power in its node, it grants +1 merchant.[3]
The Common Sense DLC allows one subject interaction for trade companies. A trade company's trade power may be increased by 50% at the cost of +0.03inflation to its owner per year. This interaction may be toggled on and off at will.
All provinces in the trade company region controlled by nations other than the trade company owner, and which are one or more institutions behind him, get a bonus to goods produced equal to half the percentage of the region's trade power the trade company controls. (The value of trade in a node depends on the value of the goods produced, so this benefits both the natives and the traders). Light ships protecting trade do not contribute to this, and can thus in certain cases cause the nation to earn less from trade as fewer goods will be produced. This bonus doesn't overlap with a merchant republic's similar bonus to goods produced.
Center of Trade Level 1: Cuttack(552), Sambalpur(553), Bengal Delta(561), Dhaka(564), Mrauk U(579), Pegu(586), Tirhut(2047), Satgaon(4477)
Center of Trade Level 2: Pataliputra(558), Gauda(563)
Center of Trade Level 3: Chittagong(568)
Asia
Coromandel Charter
Coromandel
Estuary: Velanadu(543), Konaseema(2084)
Center of Trade Level 1: North Kanara(531), Madurai(536), Vijayanagar(541), Velanadu(543), Kalingandhra(549), Kotte(572), Trincomale(4409), Cannanore(4413)
Center of Trade Level 2: Calicut(534), Tondainadu(539), Cuddalore(540), Tanjore(2026), Goa(2030)
Asia
North Indian Charter
Doab
Center of Trade Level 1: Dhundar(519), Kannauj(4497)
Center of Trade Level 2: Delhi(522), Central Doab(524), Lower Doab(556)
Asia
Burma Charter
Burma
Center of Trade Level 2: Ava(584)
Asia
Indonesian Charter
Malacca
Center of Trade Level 1: Pattani(594), Lamuri(617), Siak(620), Palembang(622)
Center of Trade Level 2: Melaka(596), Brunei(636), Pasai(2673)
Asia/Oceania (East Micronesia, Polynesia, West Micronesia only)
Philippine Charter
Philippines
Center of Trade Level 1: Sulu(651), Pangasinan(2698), Panay(2700), Butuan(2702)
Center of Trade Level 2: Manila(656), Cebu(4352)
Asia/Oceania (Vogelkop Peninsula only)
Moluccan Charter
The Moluccas
Center of Trade Level 1: Demak(629), Palu(2714)
Center of Trade Level 2: Kalapa(630), Makassar(641)
Asia
Indochinese Charter
Siam
Estuary: Prek Russey(2376)
Center of Trade Level 1: Vijaya(607), Vientiane(614), Phnom Penh(2380)
Center of Trade Level 2: Ayutthaya(600)
Asia
South Chinese Charter
Canton
Estuary: Canton(667), Hai Phong(2372)
Center of Trade Level 1: Dong Kinh(613), Macau(668), Wuling(672)
Center of Trade Level 3: Canton(667)
Asia
East Chinese Charter
Hangzhou
Estuary: Suzhou(1822), Haizhou(4196)
Center of Trade Level 1: Fuzhou(669), Ningbo(2149)
Center of Trade Level 2: Hangzhou(684)
Asia
North Chinese Charter
Beijing
Center of Trade Level 1: Laizhou(2139)
Center of Trade Level 2: Beijing(1816)
Note that while the Philippine and Moluccan Charters have provinces which are located in Oceania, these provinces are usually of low development and unlike to be enough to form powerful trade companies (for countries with Asian capitals). In particular, the Vogelkop Peninsula is one province short of the requirement for the generic "Expand Overseas" mission (5 provinces within one trade company region, across 3 regions).
When a nation has established a trade company they can increase their returns by investing in them. These are accessed through the state interface and are visible at the bottom. There are 5 investments (of 2 tiers) available to build per area that provide their benefit to the entire area. There are also 5 related special investments, only one of them can be built in each trade company region.
Please help with verifying or updating this section. It was last verified for version 1.27.
Regarding the penalties of trade company:
The reduction in tax -- sometimes manpower and sailors as well -- are counteracted by the removal of unaccepted culture penalties and autonomy penalties. The autonomy modifiers are applied multiplicatively after base tax/manpower/sailor has been modified by additive modifiers such as culture and trade company modifiers. Thus, as long as the additive modifiers do not sum to or below zero -- tax is usually helped by national modifiers -- the tax amount reduced by the -100% penalty is often mitigated by half from removal of culture and autonomy penalties.
(DLC required) Various Trade Company Investments can mitigate the initial tax/manpower/sailor penalty. (Manpower and sailor investments are under “Governance”. As of 1.27, Governance investments are "hidden" in-game with a side scroll.)
Please help with verifying or updating this section. It was last verified for version 1.27.
Other benefits not specified in-game include:
Trade Company provinces do not count towards Religious Unity. Thus, creating trade companies is a good alternative to religious conversion.
Trade Company provinces do not count towards corruption due to having too many territories.
Since trade company provinces do not gain embracedinstitution spread modifier, adding newly conquered Asian and African provinces to Trade Company can be a strategy to slow down institution spread and thus maintaining tech advantage over Asian and African countries.
Please help with verifying or updating this section. It was last verified for version 1.27.
As adding a province to a trade company doubles the local trade power, and at the same time if a trade company controls more than 51% of the trade powers in its trade node, the owner gains an extra merchant, centers of trade and estuaries which give flat bonuses to base local trade power are of greater importance to trade companies than other provinces of similar development. Constructing trade buildings (and if finances allow, manufactories) in these provinces are valuable for the same reasons. Increasing mercantilism can also help wrestling trade controls for trade companies as each point of mercantilism adds 2% of provincial trade power.
South Africa Charter is a notable trade company region as it is initially fully unoccupied. Thus, any first colonizer of Cape (1177) can gain and maintain a merchant through trade control with little investment.
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trade company is a collection of provinces in a trade company region that give the owner less tax, manpower, and sailors, but more trade power, trade goods (including production income) and naval force limit, than if the owner included them in states. Trade companies may be formed by any nation in any of the 63 trade company regions throughout the old world, provided they are not on the same superregion as the nation's capital. They are listed in the subject nation panel in the UI, but, unlike the English HEIC or Dutch VOC in real history, they do not actually have their own armies or administration – the land remains entirely under the nation's direct control.
−200% local goods produced modifier. Note that moving your capital to a superregion where you have provinces in a trade company remove them from that trade company and apply this modifier.
minimum autonomy set to 90%
minimum autonomy in Territories modifier
Production income the local autonomy effect is halved
intolerance of the local religion or an 
unaccepted culture.
local unrest, 
local tax, and 
goods produced.
religious unity, regardless of religion.
Allow centers of trade to be upgraded.
merchant.[3]
Common Sense DLC allows one subject interaction for trade companies. A trade company's trade power may be increased by 50% at the cost of +0.03 inflation to its owner per year. This interaction may be toggled on and off at will.
goods produced equal to half the percentage of the region's trade power the trade company controls. (The value of trade in a node depends on the value of the goods produced, so this benefits both the natives and the traders). Light ships protecting trade do not contribute to this, and can thus in certain cases cause the nation to earn less from trade as fewer goods will be produced. This bonus doesn't overlap with a merchant republic's similar bonus to goods produced.
Cost
Local Quarter
Permanent Quarters
Officers' Mess
+5 Land force limit
Company Warehouse
+2 Trade power
+25% Local production efficiency
Company Depot
Admiralty
Broker's Office
Broker's Exchange
Property Appraiser
+50% Trade steering
[Root.GetAdjective] Settlements
−7.5% Local development cost
[Root.GetAdjective] Districts
[Root.GetAdjective] Township
+10% Trade value modifier
+0.03 Yearly army tradition
Company Administration
Military Administration
Governor General's Mansion
−5% Minimum local autonomy
+2% Marines force limit
tax -- sometimes 
manpower and 
sailors as well -- are counteracted by the removal of 
autonomy penalties. The autonomy modifiers are applied multiplicatively after base tax/manpower/sailor has been modified by additive modifiers such as culture and trade company modifiers. Thus, as long as the additive modifiers do not sum to or below zero -- tax is usually helped by national modifiers -- the tax amount reduced by the -100% penalty is often mitigated by half from removal of culture and autonomy penalties.
DLC required) Various Trade Company Investments can mitigate the initial tax/manpower/sailor penalty. (Manpower and sailor investments are under “Governance”. As of 1.27, Governance investments are "hidden" in-game with a side scroll.)
centers of trade and 
estuaries which give flat bonuses to base local trade power are of greater importance to trade companies than other provinces of similar 
development. Constructing trade buildings (and if finances allow, manufactories) in these provinces are valuable for the same reasons. Increasing 
mercantilism can also help wrestling trade controls for trade companies as each point of 
