Lawwasnowonthehighroadtofortune。Thestudyofthirtyyearswasbroughttoguidehiminthemanagementofhisbank。Hemadeallhisnotespayableatsight，andinthecoincurrentatthetimetheywereissued。Thislastwasamaster-strokeofpolicy，andimmediatelyrenderedhisnotesmorevaluablethanthepreciousmetals。Thelatterwereconstantlyliabletodepreciationbytheunwisetamperingofthegovernment。Athousandlivresofsilvermightbeworththeirnominalvalueonedayandbereducedone-sixththenext，butanoteofLaw’sbankretaineditsoriginalvalue。Hepubliclydeclaredatthesametimethatabankerdeserveddeathifhemadeissueswithouthavingsufficientsecuritytoansweralldemands。Theconsequencewas，thathisnotesadvancedrapidlyinpublicestimation，andwerereceivedatonepercent。morethanspecie。Itwasnotlongbeforethetradeofthecountryfeltthebenefit。Languishingcommercebegantoliftupherhead；thetaxeswerepaidwithgreaterregularityandlessmurmuring，andadegreeofconfidencewasestablishedthatcouldnotfail，ifitcontinued，tobecomestillmoreadvantageous。InthecourseofayearLaw’snotesrosetofifteenpercent。premium，whilethebilletsd’etat，ornotesissuedbythegovernment，assecurityforthedebtscontractedbytheextravagantLouisXIV，wereatadiscountofnolessthanseventy-eightandahalfpercent。ThecomparisonwastoogreatinfavourofLawnottoattracttheattentionofthewholekingdom，andhiscreditextendeditselfdaybyday。BranchesofhisbankwerealmostsimultaneouslyestablishedatLyons，Rochelle，Tours，Amiens，andOrleans。
TheRegentappearstohavebeenutterlyastonishedathissuccess，andgraduallytohaveconceivedtheidea，thatpaper，whichcouldsoaidametalliccurrency，couldentirelysupersedeit。Uponthisfundamentalerrorheafterwardsacted。Inthemeantime，Lawcommencedthefamousprojectwhichhashandedhisnamedowntoposterity。HeproposedtotheRegent，whocouldrefusehimnothing，toestablishacompany，thatshouldhavetheexclusiveprivilegeoftradingtothegreatriverMississippiandtheprovinceofLouisiana，onitswesternbank。Thecountrywassupposedtoaboundinthepreciousmetals，andthecompany，supportedbytheprofitsoftheirexclusivecommerce，weretobethesolefarmersofthetaxes，andsolecoinersofmoney。
Letterspatentwereissued，incorporatingthecompany，inAugust1717。
Thecapitalwasdividedintotwohundredthousandsharesoffivehundredlivreseach，thewholeofwhichmightbepaidinbilletsd’etat，attheirnominalvalue，althoughworthnomorethan160livresinthemarket。
Itwasnowthatthefrenzyofspeculatingbegantoseizeuponthenation。Law’sbankhadeffectedsomuchgood，thatanypromisesforthefuturewhichhethoughtpropertomakewerereadilybelieved。TheRegenteverydayconferrednewprivilegesuponthefortunateprojector。Thebankobtainedthemonopolyofthesaleoftobacco；thesolerightofrefinageofgoldandsilver，andwasfinallyerectedintotheRoyalBankofFrance。Amidtheintoxicationofsuccess，bothLawandtheRegentforgotthemaximsoloudlyproclaimedbytheformer，thatabankerdeserveddeathwhomadeissuesofpaperwithoutthenecessaryfundstoprovideforthem。Assoonasthebank，fromaprivate，becameapublicinstitution，theRegentcausedafabricationofnotestotheamountofonethousandmillionsoflivres。