Numbered Account by Christopher Reich Page A
Authors: Christopher Reich
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Romance, Thrillers, Banks & Banking, Business & Economics, Adventure fiction, Banks And Banking, Switzerland, International finance, Banks and banking - Switzerland, Zurich (Switzerland)
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was looking forward to the dinner more than he cared to admit.
Nick made himself a cup of hot tea, then took a waxed paper sack out of his pocket: breakfast — a
pain au chocolat
fresh out of the oven from Sprungli. Cup in hand, he returned to his desk to study the
Neue Zurcher Zeitung
’s financial pages and check on the status of the stock markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Once seated, he unlocked his desk and the credenza behind it. He opened his top right-hand drawer and took out his list of “action items,” which he updated twice a day. He read it.
“Item one: Review portfolios 222.000-230.999 for bonds that were due to expire before month’s end. Item two: Order printouts for accounts 231.000-239.999. Item three: Review preferred equities sheet [a list of stocks portfolio managers were allowed to purchase for the accounts of their discretionary clients]. Highlight companies seen as likely takeover candidates.” Item four said simply “15:00.”
He stared at the time indicated and wondered why he had written anything at all. Why not: “Item four: Make sure your ass is in your seat at three o’clock when the Pasha calls.” Or “Item four: Don’t screw the pooch the first day your superior is absent.” As if he even needed an “Item four” to remind him!
Nick opened the newspaper to the financial section and checked the daily market commentary. The Swiss Market Index had risen seventeen points to 4975.43. USB shares were up five francs to 338 on heavy buying — Klaus Konig stocking up his war chest in advance of the general assembly to be held in four weeks’ time. Nick decided to check on the stock’s daily volume since Konig’s announcement.
He slid his identification card into Cerberus’s access slot and waited for
the computer to power up. A stream of yellow words passed along the left side of
the screen as Cerberus ran its self-diagnostics. Moments later a brusque voice
said
“Wilkommen
,” and the screen blossomed into a dull shade of gray. Nick entered his three-digit identification code, and a rectangular box descended through the center of the screen. Four choices were offered him: Financial Market Information, Reuters News, USB Account Access, and Document Manager. He moved the cursor to Financial Market Information and hit enter. The screen blinked, then turned a lustrous blue. The same rectangular box appeared. New choices: Domestic or International. He chose domestic, and a yellow ribbon appeared at the bottom of the screen flashing yesterday’s closing prices at the Zurich stock exchange. He typed in the symbol for USB, added a “.Z” to indicate the Zurich exchange (prices of major Swiss stocks were also quoted by the Geneva and Basel exchange), and followed it by the coded instructions VV21. A daily summary of USB share price and volume traded for the past thirty days appeared on the screen. Graphical interpretations of the data were shown on the right side of the screen.
The price of USB shares was up eighteen percent since Konig’s announcement. Daily volume nearly double. The stock was definitely in play. Traders, brokers, arbitrageurs eager for a little action on the habitually calm Swiss market, had seized upon the United Swiss Bank as an interesting “story,” that is, a possible takeover candidate. Still, an increase of eighteen percent in the share price was small, given the higher daily volume, and reflected the unlikelihood of Konig’s actually making good on his promise. Then why
the rise? A certainty that USB would act decisively to improve its lagging return on assets, and thus profitability, be it through cost cutting or more aggressive trading.
Nick moved to the “Reuters News” section and tapped in USB’s symbol to see if any stories had been floated the night before about Konig’s foray. The screen blinked. Before he could read the first words, a firm hand was placed on his shoulder. He jolted upright in his chair.
“Guten Morgen,
Nick made himself a cup of hot tea, then took a waxed paper sack out of his pocket: breakfast — a
pain au chocolat
fresh out of the oven from Sprungli. Cup in hand, he returned to his desk to study the
Neue Zurcher Zeitung
’s financial pages and check on the status of the stock markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Once seated, he unlocked his desk and the credenza behind it. He opened his top right-hand drawer and took out his list of “action items,” which he updated twice a day. He read it.
“Item one: Review portfolios 222.000-230.999 for bonds that were due to expire before month’s end. Item two: Order printouts for accounts 231.000-239.999. Item three: Review preferred equities sheet [a list of stocks portfolio managers were allowed to purchase for the accounts of their discretionary clients]. Highlight companies seen as likely takeover candidates.” Item four said simply “15:00.”
He stared at the time indicated and wondered why he had written anything at all. Why not: “Item four: Make sure your ass is in your seat at three o’clock when the Pasha calls.” Or “Item four: Don’t screw the pooch the first day your superior is absent.” As if he even needed an “Item four” to remind him!
Nick opened the newspaper to the financial section and checked the daily market commentary. The Swiss Market Index had risen seventeen points to 4975.43. USB shares were up five francs to 338 on heavy buying — Klaus Konig stocking up his war chest in advance of the general assembly to be held in four weeks’ time. Nick decided to check on the stock’s daily volume since Konig’s announcement.
He slid his identification card into Cerberus’s access slot and waited for
the computer to power up. A stream of yellow words passed along the left side of
the screen as Cerberus ran its self-diagnostics. Moments later a brusque voice
said
“Wilkommen
,” and the screen blossomed into a dull shade of gray. Nick entered his three-digit identification code, and a rectangular box descended through the center of the screen. Four choices were offered him: Financial Market Information, Reuters News, USB Account Access, and Document Manager. He moved the cursor to Financial Market Information and hit enter. The screen blinked, then turned a lustrous blue. The same rectangular box appeared. New choices: Domestic or International. He chose domestic, and a yellow ribbon appeared at the bottom of the screen flashing yesterday’s closing prices at the Zurich stock exchange. He typed in the symbol for USB, added a “.Z” to indicate the Zurich exchange (prices of major Swiss stocks were also quoted by the Geneva and Basel exchange), and followed it by the coded instructions VV21. A daily summary of USB share price and volume traded for the past thirty days appeared on the screen. Graphical interpretations of the data were shown on the right side of the screen.
The price of USB shares was up eighteen percent since Konig’s announcement. Daily volume nearly double. The stock was definitely in play. Traders, brokers, arbitrageurs eager for a little action on the habitually calm Swiss market, had seized upon the United Swiss Bank as an interesting “story,” that is, a possible takeover candidate. Still, an increase of eighteen percent in the share price was small, given the higher daily volume, and reflected the unlikelihood of Konig’s actually making good on his promise. Then why
the rise? A certainty that USB would act decisively to improve its lagging return on assets, and thus profitability, be it through cost cutting or more aggressive trading.
Nick moved to the “Reuters News” section and tapped in USB’s symbol to see if any stories had been floated the night before about Konig’s foray. The screen blinked. Before he could read the first words, a firm hand was placed on his shoulder. He jolted upright in his chair.
“Guten Morgen,
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