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The Bubble Act of 1720 (Officially titled the Royal Exchange and London Assurance Corporation Act 1719) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain (citation 6 Geo. 1, c. 18) that forbade all joint-stock companies not authorised by royal charter. While a common misconception is that the Act was passed to prevent a repeat of the South Sea Bubble, in reality the Act was passed to prevent other companies from competing with the South Sea Company for investors' capital. In fact, the Act was passed in June 1720, before the peak of the bubble. The Act was repealed in 1825.
Under the terms of the act, the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation and the London Assurance Corporation were granted charters to write marine insurance. Until 1824 they remained the only joint-stock firms with such a charter.