Insurance for the vault

[Cathul Thuku]

Life was good for Cathul: she had her two apprentices, one of which was more interested in a Guardian type of lifestyle even though that particular apprentice was and she was finally forgiven among Malastarians after what she did five years ago. By now she was a Jedi in all but name (and corporate affiliation if one was a Teyan Apologia follower or not - Cathul was a non-follower): she never actually swore the Jedi oaths, despite having learned about the Code as an undergraduate. Officially she was a Witch but her Witch denomination had almost no tenets in it, other than "never concede to evil". Didn't preclude her from being able to learn and use as much knowledge of science as she could, and turn it into spells. She was en route to Geonosis wearing her beskar'gam - while she was more a Jedi than she was a Witch, she still was a Mando at its core: Jedi in Mandalorian service wore armor, whether the light armorweave variety or the beskar'kandar for the Mandalorian Jedi Guardians.

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ATTN: [member="Jed Kerkov"]

Because you're set to open a branch on Geonosis, as am I, I would like to take this opportunity to open a bank account with you. Also, because of the need to make sure that clients with items in a vault can actually rest easy, I would like a discuss the insurance policy for the locations, or even for all locations. Further discussion of terms and conditions is to be made in due course.

P.S.: Mind if I bring my apprentice [member="Geloyra Malleus"] to this meeting?

Dr. Cathul Thuku, PsyD
CEO, IGR Brokerage

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[Jed Kerkov]

Jed had been sitting on his Chaise Longue, enjoying his breakfast of Dantooine flapjacks and Doa-ben steemed rolls blanketed in a thick layer of Dantooine cane syrup. Quite a lavish meal for a lavish man, after years of constant work, with no break he had recently become much more involved in delicacies and amenities of being a wealthy executive. A holoscreen hovered two meters in front of him, displaying the latest stock prices on a bar at the bottom, and a cultural show delving into the history of the now collapsed Galactic Republic. His recreational session was interrupted by a message from a doctor he did not know, a force wielder no less. Owner of IGR brokerage, a company he had heard of a while ago in a brief he had had about foreign companies across the galaxies. Jed sat up from his inclined position, setting his gold plated platter to his side, but not before finishing one more flapjack. Jed shouted throughout his large residence, "See-Ecks five two! Get over here now! Datapad, hurry it up." The protocol droid walked as fast as it's slow maximum speed let him, handing the banker his datapad.

Jed quickly wrote a message to the esteemed [member="Cathul Thuku"]. The second he pressed send, he tossed the datapad back to the droid, "Pack my bags, prepare my yacht for immediate departure to Geonosis." The droid nodded and set off towards a hallway which led to one of his expansive closets. Jed began to search for his own briefcase, containing some of his most sensitive information. Kerkov set off towards the hangar that jutted out from the edge of his mansion when CX52 spoke form behind Jed, "Master Jed, you require an overgarment for your torso." jed realized he had no shirt, his pink paunch hanging over his belt, "Right, hold one second." Quickly Jed set off and returned from the nearest closet wearing a dark blue blouse and boarded his yacht, ready to depart from his home on Antar IV.

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[member="Cathul Thuku"],

The Banking Federation would be more than open to beginning negotiations of opening a bank account at our Geonosis branch. Your insurance offer is most certainly welcomed by us here on Antar IV. Your apprentice's presence is not at all protested.

Best wishes,
Jed Kerkov
Colonel TEA
CEO Banking Federation.


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[Cathul Thuku]

What Jed didn't know was that Cathul abandoned her medical practice completely after that debacle involving a Sith Lord, which beat her ability to do therapy out of her using generous applications of beatings and dark-sided Force-powers. But she still has more biomedical knowledge than many professional Force-healers. Now, her predecessor opened an account with the IGBC on Mygeeto, but she feels prudent to put the clan's money in more than one place. Part of Clan Lok's finances were on Mygeeto, but Marcus Lok won't realize that most of the clan's money is obtained not so much from Azure but from their ownership of IGR, doing business mostly in Alliance-land. And, as time went on, she wasn't sure anymore whether her sorcery and what she used it for really fitted with the way of the Mando. Mandos considered that one's Force-alignment is mostly based on one's actions vs. what fuels the use they make of the Force. She turned over to her apprentice [member="Geloyra Malleus"]:

"I know that most Jedi are reluctant to talk about finance, and yet often finance was knowledge that was useful if one was to be involved in diplomatic negotiations. What is most important for insurance is the risk and the value of what's being insured. Here if the clients of the bank want to rest easy knowing that the value of what they want stored in it isn't lost if robberies were to occur, it is important that some insurance is in place. I'll tell the rest en route to Geonosis"

[member="Jed Kerkov"]

 

[Jed Kerkov]

The trip to Geonosis was much longer than Jed would have wished. Over 18 hours, much too long. At first he cleared out any paper work he had had, but eventually that ran out. Next he went to eating, but once again lost his appetite. He read, he lounged, he slept. Inevitably they arrived, and not a minute too soon, the boredom had wracked with his mind. His yacht landed at the galactic spaceport of Stalgasin, the capital of Geonosis and the home of the new branch of the Banking Federation. The hot desert sands rushed into the ship as Jed and his droid exited. Jed walked out onto the tarmac, where a landspeeder awaited both him and [member="Cathul Thuku"] and her apprentice @Geloyra Maleus. Inside he waited for the CEO, somewhat impatient.

 

[Geloyra Malleus]

Geloyra was more than pleased to be allowed to accompany her Master to the planet of Geonosis, though she had no real knowledge of the planet other than that it was essentially the start of the Clone Wars so many years ago. Besides her passion for plant and flower life and flying, she prided herself on learning as much history as possible. And here was a chance to discover some history, maybe, if time allowed for it. She wasn't here for history lessons, but to learn something about finances from her Master.

Her Master spoke about fiances entwining them to diplomatic negotiations. Geloyra knew, just as everyone that knew her, that she would never become that famous Jedi who scoured the galaxy to uproot evil and discord with her flashy lightsaber. Combat was not in her nature, though she did take the time to familiarize herself with the lightsaber and the various forms associated with it, but it was her growing connection to the Force that caught the eye of her elders; that and her ability to find solutions to the most disheartening problems. Many times over the word Consular had been tossed her way, and with her appetite for knowledge she knew her greatest triumphs would not be with the lightsaber but with words and knowledge. Wars could be won or prevented by speaking just a few well-timed words. This was her destiny, but currently it was a long journey to reach it. First she had to learn and be taught, and just as her Master had once told her, not all Jedi liked dealing with insurance and fiances; because most viewed it as boring and unrewarding. But for her, it was all about growing strong in knowledge; and regardless what the generals, the master duelists, and the more combat oriented Jedi said, those who possessed the advantage of an educated mind would always outthink those who thought with brute-like minds. She was a sponge, ready to soak up everything taught to her.

"I look forward to hearing more about this. To say that I'm not intrigued by all this would be a lie, Master."

[member="Cathul Thuku"] I [member="Jed Kerkov"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

Using Instinctive Astrogation Control to get from Malastare to Geonosis, Cathul was trying IAC for the first time on something shorter than half-the-galaxy away. As she knew it IAC was sensitive to the initial conditions. She will always remember what the other successful practitioners of IAC, that is, those who used it for something other than training their brains, had to say about how topology tied into IAC: Usually you would want the course to be differentiable; if you ever find yourself with a cusp, that is, a point where the trajectory isn't differentiable, drop out of hyperspace where the cusp occurs. The whole point of IAC is to plot a 1-manifold in a sea of 2-manifolds while keeping in mind that you need to observe a minimum distance between the 1-manifold and each of the 2-manifolds, all of which is going to be in R3. To her knowledge only Jessica ever used IAC for something other than training a brain but she knew that, in mathematical terms, what Jessica could do, Cathul could also do. With only three jumps from Malastare to Geonosis, it was a miracle that the last one didn't require a detour.

"We have arrived on Geonosis. You know that banks often offer interest rates on bank accounts. Usually there are two mechanisms through which they could actually earn the requisite money for the bank account to grow the interest: using the money in the clients' bank accounts an investment portfolio or offering loans. Unfortunately Force-sensitive bankers are perceived to be vulnerable to the dark side of the Force because the operation of banks are often associated with greed"

She knew all too many light-siders wanted to walk the path of the Guardian: uprooting evil and discord with a lightsaber was what most people saw of the Jedi (and also Sith) lifestyles, seemingly locked into an eternal game of cat-and-mouse that both Cathul and [member="Geloyra Malleus"] found overdone. Yet her apprentice was much more willing to use a brain in Jedi service than she was a lightsaber. Upon approaching the landspeeder [member="Jed Kerkov"] placed at their disposal so that they could get to the Bank of Stalgasin, somewhere around these dunes:

"Loans are, most of the time, backed by collateral, but the collateral-free loans are typically charged higher interest rates. Usually collateral is an item used to guarantee the loan should the borrower fail to make a payment and the lender would then seize the collateral and then sell it in an attempt to recoup the losses. Hence why many perceive Force-using bankers to be vulnerable to the dark side of the Force. If the collateral is a real estate property, the loan is called a mortgage; also the ability to repay is part of the risk of lending and can sometimes cause loans to be denied. But risk assessment in both lending and insurance is more art than science, and same goes for diplomatic negotiations, too. Did you ever take out a loan, or use a credit card?"

 

[Jed Kerkov]

Jed was pleased to finally see [member="Cathul Thuku"], after much wait he had grown rather impatient to begin negotiations. As they entered the landspeeder it set off towards the construction site of the new branch, a fairly long ride. Jed gazed at the two, a striking Twi'lek, with an PhD no less, and a somewhat frightening little Firrerreon. Both force users, Jedi maybe, not that it concerned him. He took Thuku's hand, gently kissing her hand, "Miss Thuku, it is a pleasure to finally meet you," he turned to her apprentice, [member="Geloyra Malleus"], repeating the action, "As well as you Miss Malleus. I hope your trip here to Geonosis wasn't too much trouble, space flight can be a hassle sometimes." The land speeder slowly decreased it's speed as it arrived to the fairly vacant area where the bank was being built. A few temporary structures had been set up around the mainly finished frame of the building. Smiling, Jed led the small party towards one of the temporary buildings.

Upon entrance, Jed gestured to one of the numerous seating ares in the elongated room, "Please have a seat." A protocol droid, not his own servant, but another random service bot, came with three glasses and a nice bottle of Bakuran wine, Jed offered, "Would you ladies care for a drink?" Before taking one of his own, letting the droid pour the rather high percent alcohol solution, in comparison to others of it's type, into his glass.

 

[Geloyra Malleus]

Geloyra found herself under the spell of amazement. She had no idea that there was so much surrounding banking and financing, and the thirst to learn more needed to be sated. The topic of loans and collateral, and how collateral became mortgage when real estate came into play, was soothing to her ears. Back at the Jedi Temple, before she was taken under her Master's wing, was all about 'do this' or 'don't do that'. She wasn't growing bored with the lessons there, but the galaxy she had seen on the holomaps was enormous; and with that much stuffed into the galaxy there had to be more than just Jedi-like teachings. Geloyra began to realize what her Master was saying. 'You can walk the path of the Jedi...but don't limit yourself to just being one dimensional'.

"No, Master. The teachers at the Temple will not allow it. They are big on greed leading to the darkside," she answered. "They say that everything a Jedi needs is inside them."

She half believed it, but it was not her place to question her elders.

Finally they arrived to their destination, and the person they were to meet was waiting to greet them. First he spoke to her Master, and then to her. "No trouble at all Mr. Kerkov. And please call me Geloyra"

Once gain they indulged in another form of transport, a land speeder she thought, that took them to one of the several structures. Taking a seat next to her Master, she accepted the offer of a drink and turned to her Master asking, "Is this a good time to try alcohol?"


[member="Cathul Thuku"] l [member="Jed Kerkov"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"No wine for me, Mr. Kerkov. As for you Geloyra, I won't prevent you from drinking it, so do as you wish with your glass of wine"

And you'd better be well-rounded if you actually want to do your best while walking the path of the Jedi, especially given what you want to use the Force for, she thought, upon picking up the thoughts of her rather fresh apprentice, [member="Geloyra Malleus"], in the Force. She was right in that most masters, who were mostly Guardians, were mostly making sermons to their Padawans. She knew that her predecessor as the owner of IGR was the Temple's economics trainer, and she doesn't even know whether there actually is a replacement. But from what she heard, most of Ugohr's students as the economics trainer ended up becoming Diplomats, with the odd Seer or Healer, but virtually nobody was a Sentinel, much less Guardian like he was. She has never set foot on Sullust ever since she took ownership of that corporation. Few Jedi were interested in diplomacy, and there were not enough to justify more than one economics trainer at any one time. Sometimes the NJO marshalls preferred to send off interested Jedi to take a correspondence economics course at local continuing-education institutions, at other times they'd rather rely on a semi-private model.

"Now, if I may, I have a few questions for you. The first one pertains to how close the bank branches are to warzones"

Damage insurance risk, as applied to real estate assets, is mostly a function of how close the insured asset was to a warzone, the security measures in place, the natural characteristics of the planet (a planet which was at risk of meteor showers, like Geonosis, would not be insured the same as a volcanic planet like Mustafar or a planet prone to foul weather like Jabiim), the crime rates and, of course, the value of its contents. Essentially, as with the real estate itself, location, location, location was key to determining the insurance premiums, and for more reasons than one. But the most volatile of the risk factors was the proximity to warzones. [member="Jed Kerkov"] knew it, and so did Cathul. She remembers a tabletop game where one could cast a repair spell which would cause either the premium or the co-pay of the target's owner to increase upon each use.

"Also, what are the security measures in place?"

 

[Jed Kerkov]

After the droid filled the glass to an appropriate amount, he gave the wine glass to the young [member="Geloyra Malleus"], "Here you are, Geloyra, and might I just add that that is a beautiful name." After nursing his own glass listening to [member="Cathul Thuku"]'s questions, he set it down, grabbing his datapad in replacement, "Miss Thuku, our branches are currently only located on Geonosis, Obroa-Skai, and our headquarters at Antar IV, last I checked those planets were no where near war zones, especially since the collapse of the One Sith and Galactic Republic a long 5 years ago. Security measures are strict access codes, 24/7 video surveillance and units of V2 commando droids, stationed at every branch, witha few extra units placed at our headquarters and our most important vaults."

Jed downed some more red wine, letting the flavor sink in to his taste buds, "Do you have any more questions? Or shall we go on to the tour and reception?" As he waited for the answer, Kerkov slowly finished his glass, letting the protocol droid refill it with ease.

 

[Cathul Thuku]

"One last question: to what extent do you want the bank's clients to be covered for deposit insurance?"

While her apprentice [member="Geloyra Malleus"] remained quiet, drinking alcohol, and quietly listening to [member="Jed Kerkov"], she pondered what she knew about deposit insurance. The Banking Federation was still a minor bank, unlike the IGBC or Aurum-Saccs. There was only so much in the bank they could need insurance for. But better safe than sorry; plus she knew that no insurance deposit will cover the full amount of everything in the clients' vaults or bank accounts. Nor that she would expect the bank to be a complete failure. As most Jedi, she pictured greed to be a dark-sided trait. But providing a safety net to banks' clients were, to her, a ward against the dark side of the Force as well. Many banks in the galaxy were all too confident that, no matter how advanced their defenses, would not fail as a financial institution. But that was not the case for Cathul: if she was to enter banking, better do it right and have a proper guarantee for deposit insurance.

"That is, should the bank fail, how much would you expect the clients to get back?"