In 1553, the Queen of England granted The Muscovy Company a monopoly to explore north of England for a route to the Indies, often called the North West Passage. The original name of The Muscovy Company was "The Mysterie and Companie of the Merchants Adventurers for the Discoverie of Regions, Dominions, Islands and Places Unknown." while usually referred to as The Muscovy Company.
The Muscovy Company was granted a monopoly on all trade and exploration done north of England. This proved to be very profitable for the company, while it never found a Northern Route to the Indies (India, China and the surrounding Islands), it did establish trade with Russia. Their office building in Russia can still be seen today.