The Time Value of Money [OPEN]

[Lan Porgata]

The IGBC had started to grow once more, stretching their long, thin fingers out into the galaxy to build a financial empire to rival the one lost. It was not without hard work and sacrifice, and those who helmed the banking corporation now had grand sights.

The various locations of the IGBC on Mygeeto, Coruscant, Bastion, Dubrillion, Telos, and Taris were open to visitors from all over the galaxy, and widely accepted as neutral space that saw neither ideology or culture as economics are a universal language. Each location was staffed with welcoming and helpful finance professionals who could offer the full line of services to customers.

The jewel of them all was the IGBC headquarters in Harnaidan on Munnilinst. Housing a full bank, the corporate offices and the underwriting for all the locations, it was a massive complex with all the innovations money could buy to make both visitors and the Muuns completely at home doing business.

Vic checked his schedule, as he sat down into his chair after lunch. His assistant had pulled the necessary information on the client, apparently she was a small business owner from Cinnagar, and she needed a more flexible option for accepting money than the local banks could offer her considering her customers crossed some rather contentious galactic lines.

It wouldn't be a problem for them to step in and set her business with a number of products to streamline her revenue flow. Just a matter of signing the papers and answering her questions.

[member="Dru"]

 

[Dru]

Dru walked purposely through the lobby to the security desk where she signed in and was directed to the lift to take her to the designated floor. She looked around as the doors opened up on a suite of offices headed by a reception desk. A brightly smiling Twi'lek showed her to a well appointed office, a Muun perusing something on a screen she couldn't read.

Dru entered, smiling politely and bowing forward a little bit to show respect and greeting.

"Good morning, I'm Drucillia Corsai, thank you for meeting with me. I seem to have need of your help, as I have outgrown the capabilities of the small banks on Empress Teta and the large ones think I am too small for them."

 

[Lan Porgata]

Vic motioned for her to have a seat, her business plans and records on his tablet screen.

"The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Corsai. Why don't we start with you telling me a little bit about your business, your needs and where you see your business headed."

Before he could get her set up, he needed to know what her business plans were, and if she had growth in mind. There were several paths he could steer her towards but only if she wanted to truly grow her business past Empress Teta. There was also her family name to consider. The Corsai owned a sizeable merchant house on Kuat. If she were one of those Corsai, it could mean a greater stake in their business.

However one thing at a time. First, he needed to get to know Dru's needs.

 

[Dru]

"To put it quite bluntly, I run an escort service which you have no doubt seen by my financial statements I sent ahead of time. Many of my clients are not residents of Empress Teta, and as such now payments for the legal services offered on Empress Teta might be construed less than legal on other systems. As such, I find myself in need of a proxy to process these payments that would allow my clients to contract directly with the escort of their choosing, while keeping a portion of those payments as my revenues. The escorts are free to accept whatever contracts they wish through my screen clientele database."

The Muun nodded as she spoke, thinking through the set of her particular business. Essentially, the escorts were subcontractors and she offered them a pool of previously screened and vetted customers with whom they could offer services in exchange for the small fee of arranging the transaction. The client paid the contract through the corporation, allow her to screen the client base, in order to keep the quality of both the escorts and clients of a higher caliber.

"Once this is all set up, I also have need of some personal accounts for my own things as well. Nothing too terribly taxing, however I want to make sure that my name is let off the BJH, Inc. accounts. My family is rather close minded regarding my business.

 

[Sirak Kolar]

A cloaked figure, draped in a black robe, approached whatever unattended teller he could. The synthesized voice of a proxy droid spoke to the nameless attendant, a gravely voice transmitted from light years away.

“I require financial… guidance.”, it spoke.

Ebon sat in front of his personal terminal aboard the Ascendance, the flagship of his Obsidian Crusade. He cringed slightly, furrowing his brow and making an awkward smile; What was he saying? Of course he needed help guiding the funding for his fleet, but conversation was never his strong point. He hated doing anything but fight.

Still, despite his hatred of conversation, this was something that had to be done for the sake of the Obsidian Crusade. After the civil war of the Primeval, and Ebon’s countless sacking of cities and planets, he had become a moderately rich man with his sudden ‘acquisition’ of credits, weapons, and resources. All things he needed to manage to continue his rampage through the galaxy;

The problem being was Ebon’s knowledge of economics and investing. Of course, he could strategize a battlefield, destroy anywhere from a single opponent to an army, and even keep his fleet… operating, but to expand as he intends to, he needed something more secure and intelligently managed than whatever he could do by space piracy of wild space planets.

Hopefully this bank could assist in request, and keep his matters quiet at the same time. Privacy, security, and continued growth was what he sought.

Once more, the robot spoke up at Ebon’s request;

“To whom would I speak?”

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

"We have the resources to tailor a custom accounting solution for you. It might take a couple weeks to get everything programmed up for you but once implemented, you'll have a seamless system that functions with your accounts here. There will be nothing on the accounts that officially tie to you, if you choose. We will also train you and whoever else handles your books on the use of the system and provide support around the clock."

Vic entered a few commands and laid the tablet in front of [member="Dru"] for her signature.

"Just sign here and everything will be taken care of."

​

The teller looked over the proxy droid, before he calmly turned and spoke into a coms device. A tall Muun wearing maroon and mustard colored robes approached the droid and beckoned him to follow him from the lobby. Walking down a side corridor to what was a very well appointed office, the Muun offered the droid a seat, before he too sank into a chair behind a desk, his long gaunt fingers folded in his lap as he spoke.

"Good afternoon, my name is Wel Chedex, one of the new account managers. How can we assist you today?"

[member="Ebon"]

 

[Sirak Kolar]

The robed proxy droid’s eyes lit up as the teller spoke, his robotic joints whirring as he took a seat. It seemed jittery, improperly programmed, or glitching, but it continued to work at Ebon’s request, who continued to communicate lightyears away.

“I am Ebon, and I seek training of a manager, and discretionary financial guidance over both a fleet and a company.”, he spoke, the synthesized voice repeating what he said only a moment later.

“I need to expand, Wel. I have a substantial fortune gained through… less than accepted means. Trust needs to be absolute in this situation.”

Ebon’s fingers twitched behind the computer, his amber gilded eyes reflecting the soft blue light of the computer before him, soft footsteps echo’ing behind his door. He only hoped these intergalactic bankers were as neutral as they claimed.

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

"Of course sir. We employ a number of protections to ensure that our customers have the utmost privacy and discretion regarding their business with us. We have clientele from all walks of the galaxy including several Hutts and business people who have a decidedly less moralistic view of entrepreneurship."

They did business with crime lords as frequently as they did with senators and governments. It was their ability to stick to the letter of the law that allowed them to bend it in certain cases. After all, they were in the business of making money and that required creative accounting in order to appear above board to galactic regulators.

"If you don't mind, here is a copy of our standard non-disclosure form. I've already taken the liberty to sign it, and you may keep it for your files so you know that whatever you say to me cannot be revealed outside this room."

Wel passed the droid a datastick with the forms on it.

"Please, review it and should you find it satisfactory, feel free to tell me what goals you foresee for yourself and your fleet."

[member="Ebon"]

 

[Sirak Kolar]

The droid's photo-receptors took in the information, relaying them distantly to Ebon's holonet computer screen. His fingers rubbed across his chin as he looked it over before ill confidently forcing the droid to respond;

"For now, this shall appease me."

His mind moved from the disclosure, back to the question at hand; What exactly did he intend to do with his fleet and himself?

The droid's synthesized vocal cords sprung to life as he offered a retort;

"I wish for an empire, and the opportunity to rebuild a faction fallen to civil war, however it's name is not important."

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

An empire, that all?

Wel considered the situation a moment, a sharp intake of air through the small slits of his nostrils. His nose was nearly non-existent as befitting most Muun and it tended to make them all sound a little nasally, however the focus and determination in his eyes was unmistakable.

"To raise an empire will require significant capital though it sounds as if you already have a start with controlling a fleet. In order to expand further, you're going to need a source of new capital. It might be beneficial to leverage some of your assets and debts in order to invest in a business venture that can score you revenue. With a stable revenue stream secured, you can establish a base of operations and plan your next move. The combat and political moves will be left to you, we can make sure you have the funds necessary to grow."

He poured himself a cup of tea, letting the droid transmit the initial idea to the mysterious master.

"Is this what you were looking for?"

[member="Ebon"]

 

[Ugohr Poof]

Ugohr began counting the money he made from salvaging equipment from the One Sith tanks he and the Rings of the Lord took down in their raid on the Fondor II prison on Zaloriis. To this end, he traveled to Mygeeto, with the nova crystals resulting from the sale of such items salvaged from the darksiders. He already used some of the equipment so salvaged to finance the splitting of the lower deck into two decks, thus carrying twice as many tanks as a Kamek-class medium freighter normally would (there is a lot of empty space overhead a tank after the first six tanks are loaded, and the Rings of the Lord had 12 tanks at full strength). The Gungan entered the security lobby of the Mygeeto office, with suitcases filled to the brim with nova crystals, waiting to open his bank account and to invest some of the money.

"Now that mesa looted One Sith tanks for salvage equipment, mesa desire to use da moolah for openin' an account to safeguard da moolah away from da One Sith"

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Sirak Kolar]

Ebon sat back in his chair, his fingers crossing as he thought to himself. He already had begun on the path the banker had recommended with the buisness venture, but leveraging a few of the ships he could deal with losing could be even more profitable. Perhaps the Zabrak wasn’t exactly an financial genius, but this is exactly why he came to the non discriminatory banking services of some likely corrupt officials.

“Is this what you were looking for?”

He typed swiftly, his nails grinding on the glass holoboard the keys laid on.

“A good start, I’d say. First, I currently have the start of a corporation with locations in both Coruscant and Bastion, it’s name being Odyssey. A tech company focused on cybernetics and armor. I’ve already taken steps to accelerate it’s growth and development, however from this point on, you’ll likely only speak with my subordinate, Aviliin Mercer.”

The droid stuttered for a moment, pausing it’s speech pattern before starting up once more.

“I’d like reports on what is to be done with my funds, and I’d like an additional investment broker here in the stock holdings of other galactic corporations. For the most part, I’ll be putting the money from the leverage, into an artificial hedge fund with fake identities I’ve made to launder my profits back into the company.”

“I will have no money in my name. All accounts shall be filed under Aviliin Mercer.”

Jittering once more, the droid paused for a moment, almost seeming to breath before uttering a few more words.

“And one more thing, an account under Sirak Kolar. Put 5% of any money that goes to Aviliin in that.”

“Does this sound satisfactory? Or would you have more suggestions?”, the droid finished.
Ebon sat back in his chair once more, studying the screen over Lan’s Muun features. Perhaps it was hard to be a banker, but he knew by the look in his eye he was a man of many paths. Maybe in time, Ebon could trust him; but only as far as he could throw him.

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

Ugohr began counting the money he made from salvaging equipment from the One Sith tanks he and the Rings of the Lord took down in their raid on the Fondor II prison on Zaloriis. To this end, he traveled to Mygeeto, with the nova crystals resulting from the sale of such items salvaged from the darksiders. He already used some of the equipment so salvaged to finance the splitting of the lower deck into two decks, thus carrying twice as many tanks as a Kamek-class medium freighter normally would (there is a lot of empty space overhead a tank after the first six tanks are loaded, and the Rings of the Lord had 12 tanks at full strength). The Gungan entered the security lobby of the Mygeeto office, with suitcases filled to the brim with nova crystals, waiting to open his bank account and to invest some of the money.

"Now that mesa looted One Sith tanks for salvage equipment, mesa desire to use da moolah for openin' an account to safeguard da moolah away from da One Sith"

[member="Lan Porgata"]

Ner Gellis smiled politely as she invited the Gungan into her small office to discuss his account and further business.

"We would be pleased to help you with this. Now, would you like to convert this to credits or keep it in nova crystals?"

Ner had been a new account manager for the Mygeeto branch for some time and she was always interested to see what a new client would bring in to open an account with. Nova crystals were an uncommon sight but not an unwelcome one.

Ebon sat back in his chair, his fingers crossing as he thought to himself. He already had begun on the path the banker had recommended with the buisness venture, but leveraging a few of the ships he could deal with losing could be even more profitable. Perhaps the Zabrak wasn’t exactly an financial genius, but this is exactly why he came to the non discriminatory banking services of some likely corrupt officials.

“Is this what you were looking for?”

He typed swiftly, his nails grinding on the glass holoboard the keys laid on.

“A good start, I’d say. First, I currently have the start of a corporation with locations in both Coruscant and Bastion, it’s name being Odyssey. A tech company focused on cybernetics and armor. I’ve already taken steps to accelerate it’s growth and development, however from this point on, you’ll likely only speak with my subordinate, Aviliin Mercer.”

The droid stuttered for a moment, pausing it’s speech pattern before starting up once more.

“I’d like reports on what is to be done with my funds, and I’d like an additional investment broker here in the stock holdings of other galactic corporations. For the most part, I’ll be putting the money from the leverage, into an artificial hedge fund with fake identities I’ve made to launder my profits back into the company.”

“I will have no money in my name. All accounts shall be filed under Aviliin Mercer.”

Jittering once more, the droid paused for a moment, almost seeming to breath before uttering a few more words.

“And one more thing, an account under Sirak Kolar. Put 5% of any money that goes to Aviliin in that.”

“Does this sound satisfactory? Or would you have more suggestions?”, the droid finished.
Ebon sat back in his chair once more, studying the screen over Lan’s Muun features. Perhaps it was hard to be a banker, but he knew by the look in his eye he was a man of many paths. Maybe in time, Ebon could trust him; but only as far as he could throw him.

[member="Lan Porgata"]

Wel entered the business name into his terminal and brought up the financials from their last regulatory filing, nodding as Ebon's proxy spoke at length about the existing set up.

"Well, for starters, we can simply set up Odyssey as its own accounting structure. Aviliin Mercer need only appear on it as an authorised user so that Odyssey is a standalone venture. It's...cleaner that way."

The pause and its implication that it would help him to remove Aviliin from 'ownership' of accounts was all he felt he needed to say on the matter.

"I'm assuming you mean that 5% of all profits from Odyssey should be funneled into an account under Sirak Kolar. As it happens, corporate accounts earn 5% interest on their balances. Rather than deposit this interest into the Odyssey account, the interest earning could be put directly into Sirak Kolar's account, therefore covering the source of the funds from oversight. It would look like investment income. Is this something you would be interested in?"

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Mesa would think that converting da stash of nova crystals into credits would be better. Now, mesa would like advice about real estate. How am mesa going to use real estate as an investment?"

Who knows whether setting a trap destined to the One Sith would require buying real estate? On Zaloriis or on some other war-torn planet, where he could simply build housing on captured land or repair looted housing and then lure an unsuspecting enemy agent into a trap? He knew that Naboo was going to cost quite a bit: for the same amount of credits he would be able to buy a lot more home on Zaloriis or on Ringo Vinda (assuming housing built with something other than hydrostatic bubbles; the reverse would be true if he chooses to go with new-build hydrostatic bubbles, which he would probably get for cheaper on Dagobah or Aquilaris): even Moenia would prove to cost at least three times as much as in Zaloriis City or Quendelton, major cities on Zaloriis and Ringo Vinda respectively, and for some reason Tatooine or Jakku are more expensive. On Zaloriis he could even get a McMansion inside the old city walls and, on Ringo Vinda, he could build this McMansion anywhere on the planet.

[member="Lan Porgata"]

 

[Lan Porgata]

"Certainly, we can handle that for you. One moment while we get this account squared away."

Ner smiled politely as she began to count through the crystals and calculate their value according to the current exchange rates that ran on a scrolling screen around the bank lobby. Once the account was opened and funded with the credit equivalent of the nova crystals, she turned back to him.

"As for your request about real estate as an investment, I believe that might call for some advice from our investments division. From what I do know, in order for it to be an investment, there would need to be an opportunity for the property to either be improved or for the area to be desirable so that the value of it increases in relation to the price you have paid for it in addition to any improvements. So it would really depend on where you were looking to buy and what."

[member="Ugohr Poof"]

 

[Ugohr Poof]

"Mesa in a bind: some Sith Lord sellin some castle on Malastare and hesa says that hesa facen foreclosure; as a result, issa possible to get a castle-sized mountain retreat for under 200,000 credits. But issa dat good investment? Da only reason mesa see to its value to rise issa dat Malastare was cut off from da rest of da galaxy and now returns to da greater galaxy"

Ugohr is referring to Darth Scabious here. As a Dug attuned to the dark side of the Force, Darth Scabious stretched himself financially to the limit: as a rogue Sith Lord, he invested in several Techno Union corporations before the Techno Union goes under, like Colicoid Creation Nest, Xi Char Cathedral and Baktoid Armor Workshop; he was apparently close to the leadership of the second incarnation of the Trade Federation. With the money he earned playing on the stock market, he was able to invest in real estate as well. He came to become the de facto ruler of Malastare after the Black Sun also went under, and the Black Sun once ruled over the planet, too. But he sensed something devious was in the air about Darth Scabious rumored to be going bankrupt...

"Or issa better to invest my moolah on da stock market?"

[member="Lan Porgata"]