The National  Debt in the United Kingdom in the year 1711 stood at £30 million and the government decided to finance this debt by means of a trade loan. The  South Sea Company was founded and given the monopoly to trade with South America (the term “South seas” generally applying to the South Atlantic in those days) on condition that it made a loan to the government totalling £7 million at 5% interest.

A time switch bet, is a bet where you win a fixed sum for every number of time intervals that the asset price ends above the strike price. Every win is locked in at the end of each interval and paid out when the bet expires. A time switch bet can be either for an up direction, or a down direction.