The Interplanetary Trade Commission (ITC) was an NGO established from the great conglomerates that led the settlement of Mars and by extension the Solar System. The ITC was founded to manage the flow of raw materials throughout the system, and operate as a pseudo-central bank for colonists and former leaders of the Mars Corporation. The ITC eventually came to finance the Planetary Guards of the solar system, act as the financial and monetary apparatus of the system, and served as a diplomatic apparatus to the governments of Earth.