Corporate Sector

"We're going to need to scatter far and wide. The Corporate Sector's probably our safest bet."

- Berch Teller advises his rebel cell to scatter to the Corporate Sector

The Corporate Sector was a sector located in the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories that was governed by the independent Corporate Sector Authority. It was described as a "fiefdom" where corporate entities were given free reign to govern their own territory.

History
Prior to the Age of the Empire, the Corporate Sector was made up of a series of loosely-aligned autonomous star systems, independent from the Galactic Republic, which were home to numerous corporations as well as tax evaders, arms merchants, and pirates. The majority of these systems remained neutral during the Clone Wars of 22 BBY to 19 BBY, thus also gaining a reputation for harboring war profiteers. Even five years after the end of the war, technologies that had previously belonged to the former Confederacy of Independent Systems as well as the Trade Federation were still appearing in the sector.

By 18 BBY, these star systems were considered to be slowly coalescing into a unified entity. Fearful of this opposition, forces of the newly-formed Galactic Empire forces under Moff Wilhuff Tarkin invaded and occupied the Salient system on the edge of the sector, in an intent to send a message to defiant systems and gain a staging area for further military incursions into Corporate space. The prolonged campaign drew in smugglers and mercenaries from across the sector as well as from other sectors as far away as Tingel Arm, including Saw Gerrera's Partisans, but the Empire eventually proved victorious.

Despite this, the Corporate Sector would remain in existence, and its systems would eventually coalesce to create the Corporate Sector Authority (CSA). The Empire viewed it as a haven for former Separatists, with Moff Tarkin suspecting the warship that attacked Sentinel Base originated in the Corporate Sector; when the Moff later traveled to Coruscant, some speculated he was going to be sent on a mission to the sector to hunt down Separatist recidivists. Berch Teller, the leader of the rebel cell that was responsible for the ensuing series of attacks, suggested his fellow rebels flee to the Corporate Sector to avoid Imperial capture.

Thirty years after the Battle of Endor, the Corporate Sector was still controlled by the Corporate Sector Authority. The Resistance leader General Leia Organa received intelligence that the First Order was channeling large sums of money to the New Republic Senator Erudo Ro-Kiintor's accounts through shells and third-party corporations with the connivance of the CSA. Ro-Kiintor was secretly aiding the First Order by delaying or sabotaging various motions that would sanction the First Order or increase support to the Republic Navy.

Behind the scenes
The Corporate Sector was first mentioned in the new Star Wars canon in Tarkin, a novel written by James Luceno and released on November 4, 2014. It was originally created for Han Solo at Stars' End, a 1979 Star Wars Legends novel written by Brian Daley.

Appearances

 * Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel
 * Tarkin
 * Guardians of the Whills
 * The Legends of Luke Skywalker
 * Before the Awakening
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens Beginner Game
 * Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi
 * Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi
 * Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi
 * Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi
 * Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi