The Bank (2001) Movie Script
- [Children] Seven times one
is seven, seven times two is 14
seven times three is 21,
seven times four is 28
seven times five is 35,
seven times six is 42
seven times seven is 49,
seven times eight is 56
seven times nine is 63,
seven times 10 is 70
seven times 11 is 77,
seven times 12 is 84.
- [Teacher] Today, we
welcome t0 the school,
Mr. Johnson from the
Bank of Central Victoria.
- [Children] Good
morning, Mr. Johnson.
- [Teacher] Now he's
here to talk to us
about how important banks are.
- [Mr. Johnson] Thank
you, Miss Doherty.
During your life,
there are three things
you will need money for.
Anyone?
- Cars.
- Yes, that's right.
A car.
Yes?
- A house.
- Hopefully a very big one.
This is the most important
thing to save for.
- Santa Claus.
- No, not Santa Claus.
- [Student] For when we get old?
- Yes, your retirement.
When you're too old to work.
Without money for this,
what will you live on?
If you were to save
just 50 cents a week
and save it at the bank,
doubling your investment
every three years,
then 25 years from now,
each of you would have
$727,000 of your own.
- That's impossible.
There's only 52 weeks in a year.
- Yes.
Yes, that's right.
- And in 25 years-
- You'll only have 1,300 weeks.
- That's right.
- Let me show you how it works.
Compound interest.
You get interest
on your interest.
Do you understand?
- Yeah, I do.
- Good.
Now, on behalf of the
Bank of Central Victoria,
we'd like to give you
each your first deposit.
50 cents.
(dramatic music)
(upbeat orchestral
instrumental music)
(keyboard typing)
- Okay, that should correct
the climate variation.
- [AI] Trade.
- [Jim] I can't quite get it
to predict the weather yet.
(Jim speaks in foreign language)
- Well done.
(man speaks in foreign language)
(Jim speaks in foreign language)
(keyboard beeping)
- You promised innovation,
a move to a new frontier
of trading and
investment efficiency
I believe that was
the term you used.
- Well, there has been an
8% rise in share prices
in the last three months.
- It was 16% in the same
quarterly report last year.
- May I remind you
that in the same quarterly
report last year,
we closed 1,100 branches
and reduced one third
of the workforce.
- Yes, a commendable
piece of work.
Quick, decisive.
Your first year with
us, a good start.
Now, may I remind you of a
fundamental business principle.
Companies grow.
16% last year means 20%
this year, 24% next year.
- Well, unfortunately,
there are no more
branches left to close.
- You have three months, Simon.
- Not good.
Get me the impact studies,
we're closing another
third of all city branches.
Let's advance the remote
personal banking programme
so we can fire some tellers
and make some fucking money
and one more thing,
set up a meeting with
the PR department
so that we can put a decent
goddamn spin on all of this.
What the fuck are
you waiting for?
Go. Go.
(soft music)
So what is it?
- It's fractal theory.
He's using it to try and predict
the stock market correction.
- And can he?
- Well, not yet, but if
these figures are accurate,
he's getting very close.
- I've seen this
kind of thing before.
A black box's found the INTX's
hedge fund for 12 months
before collapsing and taking
a half a billion with it.
- This is much more
advanced than that.
He's smarter.
- Yes, well, they're all
smarter until they're not.
- Well, it's a chaos
based technique.
It attempts to find
order in the madness
of the trading floor by-
- Really?
Can it take into account
a trader with a bottle
of red under his belt
who decides to go
long on the end
because his wife
is having an affair
with a Japanese sushi chef?
You see, that's the
one thing, Vincent
these things never take into
account, the human factor.
- Well, maybe they can.
He's building a programme
that can evolve,
that can learn from its
experience of the market.
He calls it Betsy.
- Great.
He's named it after
a fucking cow.
All right, let's get him in.
(Simon sighs)
(tense ambient music)
Whenever you're ready, Jim.
- I probably haven't prepared
anything simple enough for you.
- Well, just explain it as you
would to a very smart friend.
- Well, I began my studies in
undergraduate econometrics.
My honours thesis
was on Wall Street,
the three major crashes
of 1929, of '74 and '87
and I studied each crash.
I learned about why they
happened, how people suffered,
how small traders,
individuals with everything
to lose went t0 the wall.
So the next step
to me was obvious.
What would the
benefit to society be
if we could predict
the next market crash?
The suffering that could
be avoided would be huge
so I widened my research.
I spoke to market
fortune tellers,
trialled systems based on market
trends and historical data.
N0 one's even close.
They all missed one
fundamental principle.
So try to predict what
one person will do.
It's almost impossible.
But trying to predict
what 100 people will do
is much, much easier.
So with that in mind,
I began dobbing into the
nether regions of mathematics.
Fuzzy logic, non-linear
dynamic, chaos theory.
A particular interest to me
was the work of Mandelbrot
and his breakthrough
with fractal geometry.
Excuse me, can I borrow
your pen for a minute?
Okay, if we think
of it like this,
any simple inciting event
has significant and
complex results.
It brings about things
that we could never imagine
being able to predict,
things like weather patterns,
cloud formations, right
down to the very point,
the very millimetre
where this ink will fall
until now.
This mathematics allows us
t0 predict almost anything.
If we can predict this,
then predicting the
stock market's easy.
- Thanks, Jim.
- Yes, thank you for your time.
- You don't think I went
too far with the tablecloth?
- No, I think what you're
doing is extraordinary.
- Thank you very much.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
- What a wanker.
- I want you to hire him.
- Really?
Why?
- Because that wanker
could be on the verge
of discovering the holy
grail of economic theory,
that's why.
- We have to wait here.
(ambient music)
(car door opens)
- What do you need?
- What?
- To make this thing happen?
To crack this nut?
(aeroplane whooshing)
(dramatic music)
(door closes)
(door beeping)
- [Vincent] Good to
see you again, Jim.
- Hi.
- Simon.
- Vincent.
Impress him with this shit.
- Right.
Well, what we've got,
Jim is a C-LOG Pro
so just off the floor at AP
it's the only one
in the country.
Dwarfs telecom, the
treasury, the military
to share's time with
our trading operation
and market evaluation team
have a priority line to it
but apart from that-
- Apart from that, it's yours.
- You can't do this alone, Jim.
You need us.
The power, the resources,
the practical applications.
We can make this happen.
- It's all I've ever wanted.
- So do we have a deal?
(ambient music)
- Okay, you got everything?
- Thanks mate.
- Watch your step there.
- What do you reckon Roger?
You get the ride?
- Yep.
- Roger.
Thanks mate.
- Hey, how are you?
- New post.
- Oh, they have to
serve it personally, Di?
You can't post it, it's the law.
- It's still an eviction notice.
The law's on their side.
According to this,
we'll lose everything.
The house, the
business, the lot.
- Hey, hey, hey, hey.
We just have to avoid 'em
for a while, you know?
Break up our pattern so they
can't serve the summons.
Ancl if we see 'em,
we'll leg it and hide.
- Great idea, mate.
Spend the rest of
our lives on the run.
You, me and Roger, fugitives.
- Ijust need a bit more time.
I'll get the money.
- It's not gonna work.
- What can I do, dad?
- No, nothing mate.
She's just angry with me.
Thinks I ruined the business.
But you don't have to worry
about it, you little fella.
You come here.
You're going in,
you're going in!
(alarm sounds)
- Good morning, sir.
- Me?
- Yes, sir.
- Morning.
- Good morning.
(car door closes)
- These figures will
scramble the future's results
from the past six months.
This should prove an
interesting dummy run for Betsy.
- How's progress?
- And what we're doing
Simon is a simple test
trying to predict a
small market correction
and respond to it accordingly.
The mainframe will throw up
a random series of trades
from the past six months.
- Let's try it online.
- I'm sorry.
- Let's throw some real money
into the mix, try it for real.
Expose ourselves to say $10
million and see what happens.
(Vincent chuckles)
- Well, we're not really ready.
It'll still take quite
a bit of time to set up.
- How long will it take?
- Well, we're only set
up to analyse one floor,
A digging room in Sydney.
- Vincent, get three of our
fastest traders on the floor.
We'll feed them by phone.
- By phone?
Simon, we've just set up.
- There are three
phone lines in here.
When your system
tells you to buy,
you tell the trader to buy.
When it says sell, sell.
- Yeah, but we've only just
installed the software.
- Yeah, to make a
pearl, you need grit.
I'm your grit.
You're gonna work so much better
with my foot against
the back of your neck.
It's a much underutilised
management technique.
What do you say?
- Well, it's not my money,
it's just a test to me.
- Great.
- Simon, $10 million?
- Yes Vincent, 10 million.
Let's see how this thing works.
$10 million, 30
minutes on the floor.
- Okay, this is the shape
in the next 3O minutes.
There's is a slight correction
in the last two minutes.
- [AI] Trade.
- September 10, 2002,
US two, two, US S&P500.
(Indistinct chatter)
- Sell
September 10, 2002 US S&P 500
1434.05, 942 sell
September 19, 2002 US Nasdaq -
(indistinct chatter)
(suspenseful orchestral music)
- It should start
turning down about now.
(Indistinct chatter)
- Okay, shit, it's not working.
Okay, stop it. Stop it now.
Okay, stop it. Get
off the phones.
- [AI] Correction
on Nasdaq, fail.
- Oh shit, we sent 11
trades down the line
after it should have dropped.
- Look at this.
It did turn down a bit late,
but you've predicted it.
- We've come out. Okay.
900,000 ahead.
- Ahead?
- You've been working
for us for two clays
and you've already
made a million dollars,
but you wouldn't have done it
unless I had my foot against
the back of your neck.
It's a good start,
Jim, very good start.
Let's have lunch.
(footsteps)
(knocking)
- Hey.
You have to move a whole
lot quicker than that.
You're their kid, aren't you?
Listen now, can you
do me a big favour?
Tell me where they are.
(ominous music)
Friendly little
buzzard aren't you?
Told you to keep away
from me, did they?
Big bad boogey man.
You just give them this.
You tell 'em they've been
properly served, okay.
(ominous music continues)
- Hi.
- You going out for a smoke?
- No
- You look like you need it.
- Oh, thanks. You working?
- I'm just here for
the architecture.
- Alright, which section?
- Couldn't tell you,
that's highly confidential.
- You're a teller?
- You can tell?
God that's scary.
What about you?
- No, you tell me.
- Hmm? I'd say computer
geek of some sort.
- Oh, that's close enough.
- I'm Jim - Michelle.
- I'll see you later.
(car ignition starts)
- Roger.
Roger. Come on mate.
Rogen
- Roger!
- Rog
- So how was lunch
with the king?
- You said he was a
big swinging dick.
I thought he was gonna
show it to me for a moment.
- That's a term I
haven't heard for years.
- What's it mean?
- Big swinging dick. Right?
They're one in a thousand.
They trade and everyone follows.
Not only could they
not give a shit
what anyone else is doing,
they can affect the market.
They're so closely watched
that any decision they make
has huge implications because
everybody follows suit.
- And when they're
wrong. I mean,
if everyone's standing
by waiting for them,
what happens if
they stuff it up?
- Big dick. Big pockets.
They survive. The smaller
players go t0 the walls.
- Do you like another drink?
- Alright.
- Same again?
(sultry jazz music)
(indistinct chatter)
- Hi.
- Hi. Jim, isn't it?
- Yeah. Michelle.
- This is Jim.
He works for the bank
somewhere in the basement.
What department was it again?
- I'm not allowed to tell
it's highly confidential.
- Oh, a mystery man.
Meet my far less
mysterious friends.
- Hi.
- So who are you here with?
- Oh, a friend.
Someone else from the basement.
- Well, when he leaves,
come and join us.
- Shouldn't we get to
know each other first?
- What if we don't
like each other?
- You're absolutely right.
(orchestral music)
(eerie orchestral music)
(woman singing opera
in foreign language)
(woman cries)
- You gonna do any
serious unpacking,
there's about a dozen
boxes in the next room.
- Who's Paul Jackson?
- You're curious, aren't you?
Oh, he's a mate
from primary school.
I haven't seen him for years.
- Well, you should return his
book. It's 20 years overdue.
You don't have to
look like them.
- You're probably right.
- What are you, Jim Doyle?
This apartment, the limo.
At this level,
you become a what?
- I'm a genius, maths.
Oh, and bed of course.
Come on, we're late.
(triumphant orchestral music)
(phone rings)
- Hello.
- Yeah, Jim,
I'm just going over
your progress report
over the last two weeks.
I'm a little alarmed by it.
Why? Because there's
no fucking progress.
That's why.
What's the hold up.
- Look, I don't know.
We're obviously missing
a key component.
I'm just on my way
to the lab now.
- Yeah, well that is always
the problem with you guys.
You spend too much
time in the lab
with your head up your ass.
- Well.
- Meet me in 20 minutes.
(indistinct chatter)
This is the front line, Jim.
This is where the
real action is.
- And you worked the floor.
- '84, Wall Street.
I mean, it's a little
different from here,
but the basic
principles are the same.
I worked the phones
for two years
before they let me make a trade.
We let the best of them
work outside the rules.
You have to give them free
reign once in a while.
- Right? And what if
they make a mistake?
- Well, since Barings went
down, they have limited power.
They work on a 10% buffer.
If their position goes
down below a certain level,
the computer cuts out,
which effectively cuts
off their trading,
which I think is a pity.
- Alright. Why is that?
- Well, the extremes are what
makes it worthwhile, Jim.
You'd love it.
You have numbers flying
through your mind
and you bounce them
back at each other
at all different angles to
see which ones come out.
You can hurl back into the war.
- What is it that
makes someone good?
- Well, I think
you have to treat
it like a game that
you can win at.
Oh, you see that guy?
- Alright. He doesn't
have it, right?
- Right.
- Do you think you'll have
it or are you like him?
You know, I once to set up a
series of trades and positions,
a billion dollars worth.
It was me against them.
But that day I stood
back on the floor
and I watched it unfold,
and it was extraordinary.
I took 200 million out of them.
I cut off their heads
and I emptied their guts
into the street.
" Really?
- Look, Jim, if you figure out
this magic black box of yours,
there'll be plenty of profits
to go all the way around.
- Except to those guts
were on the street.
- Except to them.
You ever noticed, Jim,
how you immediately put yourself
in the shoes of the losers?
Maybe there's something
that's missing is in you.
Make the breakthrough, Jim.
Stop whining like a fucking
woman and make the breakthrough.
- Hi, my name's Diane Davis
and I was wondering
if I could make
an appointment to
see a solicitor.
- So then this
elderly lady comes in
and she's got one of those
old Commonwealth
Bank money boxes.
You know the ones that
actually look like the bank.
- Um-hm
- She had about $16 all up.
So I slipped her
the hundred, $116.
You should have seen a face.
- Ancl they never found out.
- No.
And the irony of it is the
bank fired 300 honest tellers
a month later promoting me
t0 executive personal banker
and placing the bank's
wealthier customers
in my capable hands.
- So much money does your
client need before you become
an executive bank and
not just a teller.
- I'm after tax income
of 100,000 plus.
The bank's been closing
down the smaller
accounts for months,
doesn't want them anymore.
Encourages 'em to try the
smaller banks down the road.
- Oh, great.
So now the bank's run
out of staff to sack,
they're starting to
sack the customers.
- Don't worry, I'll
be out of a job soon.
The future's remote
personal bankers,
36 key strikes on your phone
and a synthesised female voice.
Okay, your turn.
Is this some secret promotion
that's brought you to Melbourne?
- Oh no, not really. It's um,
it's actually my first job
since I completed my PhD,
because they lured me here.
- To make your fortune?
- So to speak.
- So what do you do?
- I'm not allowed to tell you.
- Come on. Just a hint,
something abstract.
- I design mathematical
systems to predict things.
Yeah, well, today I
learned their actually
to make money very
effectively make money.
Nothing more exciting than that.
- Like a system to beat lotto.
- To beat the stock market.
- Every loser has a system,
whether it's buying shares
or playing blackjack.
- Oh no, it's a bit more
complicated than that.
It's, that's all I can tell you.
(computer beeps)
- [AI] Market correction, fail.
- Are we missing
something obvious?
- You might like to know
that the last seven tests,
if we'd been live, would've
cost the bank $26 million.
- Shit.
How long before you
have to tell Simon?
(aggressively presses
computer keyboard)
I need some fresh air.
(eerie orchestral music)
- And after Marshall,
Peters, and Rudderson,
we tried Cormack and Smith.
They all passed on
representing us.
That's 14 legal
firms all claiming
to be in the employ
of Centre Bank.
All claiming a
conflict of interest
that stops them from
representing us.
- Yeah, the pea banks
have a history of sharing
their legal work around
to make it difficult
for irate customers
to seek litigation as an answer.
It's a cartel of sorts.
- So, what do you do then,
when no one will represent you?
- Well, you end up with me.
And to be honest with you,
that's not really a good thing.
- Do you know
anything about banks?
- I know they'll crush
you with time and money.
And they've got plenty of both.
They can keep a case
in court for a decade.
- We don't care.
- You don't care.
Well, I've,
I studied the police findings
and there's little doubt that
the sheriff's office will be
found guilty of malpractice.
He'll have his licence
suspended for six months or so,
suffer some hardship from
the bad press he's getting.
- Some hardship?
- But apart from that, there's
not much more we can do.
No financial compensation.
- It's not the
money we're after.
It's the bank.
- The bank will most
likely distance itself
from the typical
employee relationship.
They'll claim some sort
of contracting arrangement
that absolves them
a responsibility.
My advice would be
not to pursue it.
I'm sorry.
- No, you're not.
You're just happy
to get rid of us.
(intense orchestral music)
- What is it with this guy
and fucking table cloths?
- He seemed to have made
some kind of discovery.
He worked around the clock
last night in the lab.
- I wonder if he's gonna
tell me about this.
- You still don't trust him?
- I don't trust anyone.
- I'm so close.
I'll probably need
about another week,
but she'll be able to run
another dummy test by then.
- Good.
Listen Jim,
I'd like you to join my wife
and I for dinner tonight.
We'll send a car t0 pick you
around about eight o'clock. Ok.
- I'm actually going out.
- That's okay. You
can bring Michelle.
- How did you know that?
- Ijust know.
I'm like, God,
with a better suit.
Eight o'clock outside
your apartment.
- Should I go?
- I've never been invited.
- There is one other option.
Essentially,
you lost your business to
a foreign currency loan.
I mean, you struggled
to make repayments
against a shift
in currency rates.
That's right, isn't it?
- Yeah, I thought it
was in Swiss Francs,
but it looks like it's in
Pesos 0r Yen or whatever.
- Yeah. Well, I,
I found a report on the net
that identified 138 other people
who lost their business
in the same way.
Now it seems in several cases,
the loans were
being entered into
without the bank fully
disclosing the risk.
They emphasised the
low rate of interest.
The currency risk was
treated as irrelevant.
Now, if we could prove the lack
of disclosure in your case,
well then the bank is liable.
- You'll help us.
- Well, I'll certainly try.
- Thank you.
- Don't be so nervous.
I'm good at this kind of thing.
Pleasant conversation.
A little flirtation.
The occasional crass joke.
- How long have you
been at the bank?
- Three years.
Still regarded as
temporary though.
Let me make that quite clear.
- You're too smart
to be a teller.
- I'm not a teller.
- No, it's.
Simon the bank.
They know about us.
- You are a pet
project at the moment.
Of course you'll be
keeping an eye on you.
- Yeah, I know but-
- Am I the eye?
(mysterious orchestral music)
(speed boat engine revs)
- Thank you.
Michelle, I'm sorry.
- Well, at least now
I know more about you.
You're paranoid and secretive.
- Paranoid?
(Michelle chuckles)
- Come on in, make
yourself home.
Welcome Jim.
It's good to see you. I want
you t0 meet my wife Monica.
- Hi, pleased to meet you.
- This is Michelle.
- Charmed, I'm sure.
- Come on in.
Just remember while you're
here, you're one of us.
Jim.
- Oh God, don't mind him.
He's just being an asshole.
(jazz band plays)
(indistinct chatter)
(child laughs)
- Ow!
- Gentlemen, would you join
me for a cigar outside?
- How's your foot?
- Jim.
- Don't leave me.
(audience applauds)
- What's the celebration?
- The yarra,
38 kilometres of Prime Crown
water funded real estate.
As of 6:00 PM today, it's ours.
- I'm sorry.
- Split it in a four acre
lots. You do the math, Jim.
How much do we make?
- Yes. You won't really
own it, will you?
I mean, you can
understand you're probably
behind the finance for it.
It's still Crown land,
republic owns it.
- Oh, give me a
fucking break, Jim.
We can step in and take
anything we financed
anytime we want to.
That's ownership. Market
force means exactly that.
We can seize assets.
We can use the IMF
to force countries
to pay their loans back.
We can react against any
government until they do exactly
what it is we want them to do.
- Nothing 100 well placed
businessmen do is illegal.
- Michelle.
- No, no, no, no, no.
It's fine Jim.
I find it refreshing,
assuming of course it
comes from a sweet naivete,
rather than a pig ignorance
of the real world.
- Oh, assume way.
- It's the brutal
truth Michelle.
We have now entered the
age of corporate feudalism
and we are the new princes.
- What do you call yourselves?
Bastards without borders?
- Oh Michelle-
- No, no, no, no,
no. I find it -
- Refreshing?
- Mm.
- I think we better go.
- No, I better go.
You might be needed later
to hold his dick
when he takes a piss.
- Oh, Michelle.
- Let her go, Jim.
We'll find you
somebody else to fuck.
- No, I'd better go.
Thanks Simon.
- Suit yourself.
(footsteps)
- Go, Go.
(speed boat engine revs)
Keep going-
Stop.
Let's go get him.
- What was all that
about back there?
- They're assholes, Jim.
- So we know that.
- We? No, I know that. I
don't think you know that.
Do you actually
think they like you?
- I don't care if they like rne.
- You are a puzzle, aren't you?
They're using you.
- Yes. And I'm using them.
Look, I'm gonna
crack this Michelle.
- Yeah.
- And they're giving
me the means to do it.
- Ancl they're gonna
get rich off it.
- I know what I'm
doing Michelle.
Just hang in with me, please.
- You are so naive, Jim.
- Hey, there you go.
Perfect.
Maybe we should get another one
just in case the trial goes
on a bit longer. Steven?
- Ay, I think that tie's fine.
- Everything's important, right?
- You clear on what
they'll ask you?
Any information about the
risks of foreign currency loans
could be seen as
adequate disclosure
on the part of the bank.
- Oh, they told me nothing.
- Even their own
staff can verify that.
- Well, the manager's testifying
that he told you everything.
It's your word against his.
- What about the
trainee who was there?
- Someone else was
privy to the meetings.
- Most of the time he was.
- Well, that's good.
- Oh yeah. Might be good.
First, we'll have t0 get
them to tell us who he is
and they won't wanna do
that. It'll take a subpoena.
But yeah, let's
see what happens.
(ominous orchestral music)
- How much have you got on him?
(computer keys clicking)
- Well, since we hooked
up to the tax office,
there's a bit of
healthy reciprocity.
It's all pretty straightforward.
Goes back to '77 when he
opened his first bank account.
Oh, a good saver since then.
I'd say he's a good catch.
(copy machine running)
- We have an increasingly
dangerous problem,
the kid who drowned.
The media's more than
happy t0 demonise us.
And the Davis family's coming
out of this like saints.
- Have you seen the parents?
Kid just probably woke up and
realised who he was born to?
- Yes, well, let's
not let our compassion
get the best of us.
We probably won't be found
liable for killing the kid.
But if they make any headway
with this foreign loan mess,
there's 200 cases just like
it that'll follow suit.
- We'll be drowning in 'em.
(chuckles)
- For fuck's sake.
Will you shut up?
We have to fight this.
Can't settle outta court.
We have to fight it
and we have to win it.
- We're starting up
some sex abuse rumours
about the father and the child
just to deflect the
heat, muddy the waters.
- Yes, well, don't
tell me about that.
- You don't want us to do it.
- N0, I don't want you
t0 tell me about it.
Now the only other thing
is that I'm a bit
worried about Jim.
He seems to be vacillating.
And the last thing we want is
for his conscience t0 tell him
to turn his research over to
the fucking Salvation Army.
So maybe we should check
this girl out one more time.
- Position where we're
not gonna be up to.
We're not gonna be able
to slow it down before
it gets to the that.
- Vincent, what's Centre
Bank's current value.
- Since the merger,
about $50 billion.
(indistinct chatter)
(ominous orchestral music)
- What's the problem, Jim?
- I've run the figures, Simon.
- Good. Let me have a look.
- Predicting the stock
market's one thing,
but the bank position against
even a small correction
that, the impact
will be devastating.
- Ancl what's your point?
- Have you thought
of the consequences?
- Of course I have.
- Simon, I haven't
spent years of research.
10 years of post-graduate
study for this.
- Do you know what upper
management is, Jim?
Do you know what I spend
most of my time doing?
Cutting.
I come in and cut
20% of the workforce.
I close 15% of the branches,
the factories, whatever.
The market applauds like I'm
some kind of fucking genius.
My life is dull Jim.
Before I die, I wanna do
something extraordinary.
I wanna do something that
will blow people's minds away
when it happens.
- Blow people's minds?
Simon, you and I'll
both be remembered
for destroying economies.
- Jim, most people live
lives of quiet desperation.
They struggle from
birth until death.
They never achieve anything.
Society crushes their hopes
and their aspirations.
History forgets them.
You will insult every
single one of these people
if you turn your back
on this opportunity.
- An opportunity
t0 achieve what?
- An opportunity to join
your peers like Mandelbrot.
To take your place in history
with the great mathematicians
and scientists like
Pythagoras, Valk,
Newton, Einstein, Oppenheimer.
- They used Oppenheimer's
work to make the atom bomb.
- Ancl the bomb ended the war.
You've got 24 hours to
resolve your ethical dilemma.
After that you can
do as you please.
Don't come back here with
this pathetic indecision.
(ominous orchestral music)
- [AI] 10,000
20,000
30,000
60,000
- What's this?
- Simon's gift?
We're now the most
powerful computer system
in the southern hemisphere.
And he also wanted
you t0 have this.
- This is next week's
balance and trade figures.
These are treasury figures.
How in God's name did he?
- My advice, don't ask.
Turn a blind eye.
Very helpful.
- Very helpful.
(mischievous orchestral music)
Okay, so what do we know?
- Well, we know that the system
will deliver transactions
simultaneously around the world.
Time differences means that
there's only a one hour window
when the US, Europe,
and overnight Asian indexes
can be accessed simultaneously:
74 markets, 22 exchanges.
- Okay, so leaving speed
our only stumbling block.
Did you think you'd
end up here, Vincent?
- Today?
- No. When you're a kid,
when you knew that mathematics
was what made you tick?
- I dunno.
I guess it's just been one
foot after the other for me.
Top of the class at
school, university.
First job out, Centre Bank.
- Yeah, but there
must have been a time
when you loved it,
when you'd dream about
where it could take you.
- Mathematics, permutations,
logic, strategy.
Maybe chess. I used to
play a lot of chess.
I learned when I was
about four or five.
I played a grand master once
at Westfield Shopping Centre.
He was playing 20 people at once
and I came so close to winning.
It's a brilliant game. I
haven't played it for years.
- Oh, we should
have a game one clay.
- Alright, I'd love that.
And what about you?
Did you know that
you'd end up here.
- A dear Japanese
friend said to me once
at the height of the eighties,
problem with you Australians,
is that you all want
be Alan Bond tomorrow.
Us Japanese, think in decades.
Something in that.
Oh, maybe not here, but,
I knew I'd be somewhere.
Are there any
programmers in-house
who could come up
with a speed doubler?
- Ancl you can run a speed
doubler on your home PC, Jim.
But we're talking about
millions of dollars worth
of mainframe hardware-
- The principals are the same,
a piece of software
that accelerates speed
through memory, efficiency,
data flow, re-routing.
Come on Vincent. It could help.
- No one here who could
do that sort of stuff.
We could outsource
it discreetly.
- Well, it won't
work without it.
Ah, there's a friend
of mine from uni
who's a genius programmer.
Will they need to clear him?
- I can clear him, but only
if he's as good as you.
- Some areas of mathematics.
He's actually better.
(Speaking foreign language)
- And does it?
(Speaking foreign language)
- Nearly killed me
coming up with this man,
you are working with
a serious hardware
and any speed increase is
normally splitting hairs.
- Will it work?
- It will do whatever
you want it to.
- So do we know who this
guy is they've subpoenaed?
- He still works
for us in Finland.
- A lot of those records lost
though, employment records,
trainees, if we
can't find them -
- It could be anyone we want.
Let me think about it.
Let's see what brains
is so excited about.
- Well, I've cracked
the mathematics of it.
It's just a matter of speed.
- Speed.
Okay, 1929, the big crash.
(dramatic orchestral music)
Good luck, Betsy.
- [AI] Trade.
Market correction matched.
- Throw up '74.
Try that.
- You try, Simon.
- [AI] Trade.
- Shit it works.
It works.
- [AI] Market
correction matched.
- We need to talk.
Using the system,
this is the market trajectory.
- Shit, the crash.
- We've nailed it, Simon.
Friday week.
- The triple Witching hour.
9:00 PM Friday, October 25th.
The expiration of the cash
futures and options contracts,
they all coincide.
It is the most vulnerable
point in the market.
- Exactly the same
thing happened in '89.
The crash will be devastating.
We're ready for it.
- Are we?
There are huge risks.
- No. There's no reason.
- Yes, there are
always risks, Jim.
- No, not this time.
It's mathematically proven.
Simon, if you position
yourself correctly,
you'll need 60
minutes on the floor.
In that time, the bank
will be worth 10 times
its current value.
The next opportunity won't
be till November, 2003.
There is no risk.
- You understand that we are
violating market manipulation
legislation in about
six different countries.
- You're not scared, are you?
After all this.
Simon, this is our moment.
This is our mark in history.
What is that your
big swinging dick
I can hear shrivelling up?
- What?
- You know what? I've done it.
We're there.
- I'm gonna have to
convince the board.
You know, I've never
really liked that liberal
bleeding heart of yours.
I'll need some kind of signal
of support, some kind of sign,
some act that will bind
us once and for all.
- Whatever it takes.
(suspenseful music)
- You've barely said
a word all night.
- I'm sorry.
- Sorry enough to
tell me what's wrong.
- Oh, nothing's wrong.
I couldn't be better.
(telephone rings)
- [Answering Machine] You
have reached the phone
ofJim Doyle. Please
leave a message.
- Jim, it's Vince here.
Simon wants me to take
you to court tomorrow.
Ancl he doesn't want
you going in a limo.
So my Volvo'll have to do,
I'll pick you up at 10
and then you can tell me
why you even know
about this case.
See you then. Bye.
- Court?
- Yeah, just an
expert witness thing.
You know, maths.
- Well. What case?
- Maybe the best thing is for us
to give it a rest for a while.
- What? Why, because
I asked questions?
- Yes.
Yes. Because you asked me
questions that I can't answer.
- Let me in on it, Jim.
- And you never thought to ask
anything more about the loan?
- No.
I assumed the bank had told
me everything I should know.
- This was the biggest
loan you had ever taken,
is that correct?
- Yes.
- And as such,
you had a huge responsibility
to take into account
all aspects of this
significant venture.
- Yes, I did.
And I did everything that I -
- You asked no
questions of the bank,
considering the scale of
personal responsibility?
You asked nothing of the bank?
- I trust banks.
(audience laughs)
I mean, I trusted banks.
I banked with the Centre
Bank for 20 years,
knew the local manager,
had every reason to believe
they wouldn't lie to me,
deceive me, conceal from me.
- And we will show
Mr. Davis that
in no way has this bank
broken your trust in them.
We have no more
questions, your Honour.
- And Mr. O'Connor?
- Thank you, your Honour.
I have no further questions
for Mr. Davis at this stage.
Your Honour, we have received
news from the Alexandra Branch
of Centre Bank that a subpoena
for a principal witness
has been successful.
We would like to call t0
the stand Mr. Jim Doyle.
(ominous music)
- He looks different.
- What?
Are you sure?
- Are you ready Mr. O'Connor?
Mr. O'Connor?
- Yes. Yes, your honour.
Mr. Doyle,
can you confirm for the
court that you are currently
employed by Centre Bank?
- Yes, I am.
- And that you were previously
employed in June, 1996?
- Yes, briefly, for
12 weeks as a trainee.
It didn't work out.
- You were employed at the a
Alexandra branch of the bank?
- Not specifically.
I spent three or four days
in each 0f11 regional banks
in the area as part
of my training.
- 11 Regional banks in the area.
That would've included
Seymour and Yay, would it not?
What were the others?
- Objection your Honour.
Surely the witness's
identity is not a question.
- Mr. O'Connor,
you have subpoenaed
the witness and Centre Bank
has been quite forthcoming
in providing employment
records, payroll statements,
group certificates, verifying
that Jim Doyle is Jim Doyle,
that he worked for Centre
Bank and that he was present
at your client's
briefing with the bank.
Where is this line of
questioning heading?
- I'm sorry, your Honour.
Mr. Doyle, do you know
this gentleman to my left?
- Yes, I do. It's
Mr. Wayne Davis.
- And how do you
know Mr. Wayne Davis?
- Mr. Davis requested a
loan from Centre Bank.
I attended several
meetings with Mr. Davis
when I was under training.
- I see. Do you
recall the details
of Mr. Davis's loan application?
- Yes. Some of them, I think.
It was assessed as
part of my training.
I could refer to my notes.
- I'm sorry. You what?
You took notes.
Do you have those
notes with you?
- Yes, I do.
(ominous music)
- Would you like to examine
these, Mr. O'Connor?
- Yes, your Honour.
Your Honour, due to the
complex nature of these notes,
I'd like to request
a short recess.
Fuck.
- That doesn't sound good.
- I'm sorry. I think I've
just handed them a win.
- Fucking assholes. It's
a lie. It's not even him.
- I should've, I'm so sorry.
- Please identify the
page pinned in your notes.
- It's a bank checklist.
It's a foreign currency
loan checklist.
It identifies the key areas
that the bank was required
to reveal to any
potential customer.
- Please describe your notes
on this page to the court.
- Well, they're ticks
next to each the point
I ticked them when the
manager, Mr. Green told -
- It's a lie -
- Is there a problem,
Mr. O'Connor?
- Yes, your Honour. I'd
like to move a motion -
- And Mr. Doyle how well
informed do you consider
the Davis's were about the risks
of a foreign currency loan?
(dramatic music)
- Well, as my notes show,
points six to 11 all deal
with the risks associated
with the loan.
Mr. Davis was well informed.
- Michelle.
- Something you want
to say, Vincent?
- Yes, I've worked for
this bank for 10 years
and I have never been
ashamed until today.
We didn't used to be like this.
I mean, I know we do some
shitty things sometimes, but -
- You're the one who taught
me about turning a blind eye.
- Yeah. Well, maybe I did,
but I just wish I
hadn't been there
and I hadn't seen you lie
and fuck that family's
case out of existence.
I respect your mind, Jim.
I envy it.
You know, I wish
I could comprehend
even a fraction of what you can.
Most clays, I look
across the lab at you
and I wish it was me.
I wish I was the one who could
come up with that formula.
But I know this much,
I could never do
what you did today.
And if that's what it takes,
then good fucking
luck to you, Jim.
- Stop with the car.
(ominous music)
(ominous music continues)
- Gentlemen.
We are on the verge of a new
era of economic modelling.
The profit generating
opportunity
that you've been looking
for has been found.
With the strategic advantage
of computer modelling,
never before imagined,
we have been able to predict
a major market correction.
A stock market crash
of unprecedented scale
that will decimate the market.
Now, the market has been aware
of this correction
for quite some time.
The new technologies boom,
the ludicrously valued companies
that have yet to turn a profit.
We're all aware of this.
We have certainly all
benefited from this.
Now we have an opportunity
to benefit from its collapse.
- There is no way that
we can implement this
and legally qualify the
off-balance sheet risk.
Surely, they'll shut us down.
- They certainly will try to.
That's why we must act
swiftly and decisively.
We have to utilise the
element of surprise
and we have to operate outside
the conventional boundaries
so that we can conceal our
actions from our competitors.
- And if we wait?
No, I'd like to take
this opportunity
to examine it a
little more closely,
get an independent
assessment of this system.
We've got people at
MIT who could run
their own tests
given a week or two.
- If we wait 24 hours, the
market will move against us.
We have to move now.
If we miss this chance,
we will be crushed
beyond recognition.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What about your own position?
We've given you an option
package worth millions.
- My confidence in this
prediction is absolute.
I am willing to put up
my share portfolios,
my personal savings, my real
estate package, everything.
I'll put it all on the line.
- That's quite a risk. Simon,
you'll give us written
confirmation of that.
- Of course, I will.
Let's not be too altruistic
about making this decision.
You also stand to benefit.
Every cent you have,
every share you own,
every bonus dollar you are due
will increase in value
10 times in a single day.
The system will work.
- This is the most
despicable scheme.
- Anything else, Ben?
- Yes.
I will tender to my
resignation if you go forward.
- That's fine with me.
- You can use this information
to weather the storm.
If in fact this crash happens,
stand by to minimise the
damage to, to survive it,
but to position
this bank, our bank,
to benefit from this,
this catastrophe.
And in so doing break every law.
- The law is made
by governments, Ben.
We operate a business.
We bounce up against
the law every day.
We push it, we pull
it. It is elastic.
- Ethics are not elastic.
Principles are not elastic.
Morality is not elastic.
We have a duty to the society
to treat this
information responsibly.
- No,
we have a duty to the
shareholders to wipe the floor
with our competitors. That's
who we have a duty to.
Now, if we don't do this
and somebody else does and
crushes us beyond recognition,
who will explain it
to the shareholders?
They are our people.
They are our society.
The public can take
care of themselves.
Now, I want you to think
about this for 10 seconds,
then I want you to
pick up your pen
and then sign the
document in front of you.
(ominous orchestral music)
- 20 years is a long time.
I was just hoping you had
some records of past students.
- Not really.
Anything we would have has
been sent down to the library
for archiving.
But like I said,
it's a long time.
- Thanks so much for your help.
- Mr. O'Connor, will you
be appealing the decision?
- Yes. Yes. We will appeal.
This is an outrageous
decision based on the trickery
and deception we've come to
expect from the banking system.
So yeah, you can mark
my word will appeal.
- Mr. O'Reilly, your
comments on the case today.
- Well, obviously we're
very happy with the result.
It's a clear
victory t0 the bank,
and I think it's a
testament to our commitment
and honesty with our customers.
Although you know our sympathies
are with the Davis family.
I must stress that ill-founded
a lawsuits of this type
are a complete waste
of everyone's time.
Thank you.
- Our son,
they've wasted our son.
(ominous orchestral
music intensifies)
- [Reporter] The class action
involving 200 other cases
has now been put 0n hold.
(ominous music intensifies)
- Okay, we go online in
the Northern Hemisphere
in 30 minutes.
Let's have another pass
of the cabling, Tanya.
Tanya, try one of the
key foreign exchanges
Hello.
- How's the tracking?
- Oh, a few final
checks then we're away.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
I can't be there with you,
but I look forward to observing
it from a safe distance.
- I understand.
- Good luck.
- [Jim] No luck needed.
- Good.
- Okay.
- Should be coming up with
sell 4,000 November Nikkei
down to 17,000.
(indistinct chatter)
- [AI] Nikkei 4,000
Down to 17,000 sell.
- Thank you. It's confirmed.
- We don't have
much use for this.
Can't remember the last
time we pulled it out.
Now these are the local newspaper
clippings for '75 to '77.
Should be a good place to start.
There's an index at the
beginning of each year.
- Thanks.
(ominous music)
- States in George's
Road turn off.
Federation House
should be sign posted.
It's not open to the
public anymore, you know
it's a private residence.
- Yeah, I know.
- Jim?
- Three minutes.
(bus engine revs)
(ominous music)
- We can get the
original article
from at the back if you like.
- Oh, no thanks.
(ominous music intensifies)
- Piece of shit.
(phone rings)
- Yeah.
- Simon, it's Billy.
I'm sorry to call you at home,
but I couldn't get
through to Christopher
and I have some bad news.
- What?
- I'm in Bueller,
Jim's hometown.
Christopher sent me down here
to follow the girlfriend.
He's been lying.
His real name is Paul Jackson.
1977 Centre Bank foreclosed
0n his family's farm.
- Lying fucking prick.
- Yes.
- Jim. It's me. I'm in Bueller.
I know you're know
who you say you are.
I don't know what you're doing.
But the thing is,
they're here, Jim.
The bank has followed me here.
(phone rings)
- All mobile phones will
be switched off now.
No calls in or outta this
room until we're finished.
Vincent, how long?
- Nearly there.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(phone rings)
- We're ready.
Are you okaY?
(sombre opera music)
I guess you've waited
a long time for this.
- Yes, I have.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(operatic chanting,
music intensifies)
- [AI] Trade.
(Indistinct chatter)
(phone rings)
- Come on. Come on,
come on, come on answer.
Pick up.
(ominous music)
(phone rings)
- Put it down.
(phone rings)
Do you know who I am?
- Yeah, I know who you are.
Just take it easy. Huh?
Here!
(gunshot)
- Shit.
Come on.
- Get the fuck down!
Sit the fuck down.
I swear to fucking
God I'll kill you.
Get down!
Get the fuck down or I
swear to God I'll kill you.
- This will all end
in tears for you.
- Everything else has,
I guess I don't care.
- Killing me isn't
exactly the best way
of honouring your
son's memory now is it?
- You killed him. You
killed fucking him.
- Did I?
Or did you just fail
in your business.
- The loan.
You knew you bastards knew.
- I know. I know.
They were a disaster.
They weren't fair.
I'll tell you what.
I'll give you $250,000
right now. What do you say?
- What? Now, you'll
give us the money.
Any interest on that?
Will that be Pesos
fixed against the Yen?
Any fucking charges?!
- No. No.
Look, I tell you what,
I'll give you a million
dollars right now,
but just make up your
mind what you wanna do,
because I don't
have time for this.
- Shut up! Shut the fuck up!
This is his picture.
- Look, it's Wayne, isn't it ?
Wayne, this is all
very touching but -
- Look at it.
I want you to look at him.
He's beautiful, isn't he?
- Yeah. He's a cloll.
- You're fucking dead!
- There's nothing,
nothing you can do to
make me give a fuck!
Do you understand that? Nothing!
Nothing, you can do can
turn your situation around
because he is gone.
You understand that?
Your son is gone. And if I
could bring him back, I would.
If there was something that
I could do, I would do it.
But I cannot! You cannot!
You will die with this
fucking misery in your heart.
Now you killing me, would
just put you in prison
for the next 20
years, hurt your wife,
fuck up the rest of your life,
if that is humanly possible.
Now I just wanna
make a phone call.
After that, you can
beat me, barbecue me,
fuck rne up the ass.
I don't give a shit.
Just let me make that call.
- Or what'll happen?
You're afraid of what'll happen
if you don't make the call.
- Look, I'll give you 2
million cash right now.
Okay?
What do you say? Just let me
make that fucking phone call.
(dramatic music)
- [AI] 10,000 trades sent. 60%
- Come on, faster. Faster.
- 12,000 trades sent.
68% complete
(dramatic music intensifies)
(gunshots)
(car zooms)
- [AI] 14,000 trades
sent, 80% complete.
- Jim, it's holding up.
It's holding.
- Yeah, hang there.
Hang in there.
It'll turn any moment it has to.
- [AI] 86%, sell, sell
- Jim, it's moving against us.
- [AI] 80% sell
- We're gonna have
to start buying back.
The losses are huge.
They're approaching
the 10% buffer.
This is ridiculous. It should
be automatically buying back.
It should be cancelling
our position.
Jesus Christ.
- Speed doubler
overrides the buffer.
I'm sorry, Vincent.
- Initiate the buyback.
We're gonna have to
do this manually.
- It's two diverse
requires too many trades.
- Turn off the, turn
off the machines.
Turn 'em off. Cut the power!
Cut the power!
We going to have to get
in from the mainframe.
(triumphant orchestral music)
- [AI] 100,000 trades sent.
- What the fuck is
that? Liquid paper.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(beeping)
- What's that?
- It means there is no bank.
Where is he?
(melancholy music)
(melancholy music continues)
(Jim speaking foreign language)
(friend speaking
foreign language)
- This is crazy.
We haven't got the time.
- So what do you do when you've
brought a bank to its knees,
economy to Rio, lunch
with Ronald Biggs?
You've had quite a day, Paul.
- Oh, come on let's stick
with Jim. I'm used to it.
- You could have
trusted me, Jim.
- How?
I was convinced that
you work for them,
that they'd planted you there.
- Why, for God's sake?
- It was too easy.
It was too convenient.
- It was easy
because it was right.
- Well, I know that now.
- Well, either way,
where's their money now?
- Oh, most of it's been
absorbed by the market.
Lost forever.
The rest has been redistributed.
$50 billion gone.
- All this to avenge your
father's death: one man.
- Yes.
Yes, it began with
my father's death.
One man.
The catalyst for all this,
a single inciting moment.
At the end of the day,
it's actually quite simple.
Ijust hate banks.
- What now?
- I'll have to leave
the country, disappear.
I was thinking maybe
that you could-
- Come with you?
- Oh, not now.
Sometime soon.
(romantic orchestral music)
(car door shuts)
- I'll just be a moment.
Your passport
expires in two weeks.
I just have to make sure.
You can travel on it.
You can,
but just make sure to reenter
the country within that time.
- Otherwise?
- Otherwise,
you might have a bit of
trouble getting back in.
Enjoy your trip, Mr. Jackson.
- Thank you.
- Oh, it's a mistake.
What do you make of that?
$727,000. That's not
our money, is it?
It's a mistake. We should
sort it out with the bank.
Closed it.
The nearest branch
is Lake's entrance.
It's a hundred miles from here.
Wayne?
- Got no idea, Di.
Just a simple man.
I guess if there's a problem,
the bank will let us know.
(dramatic orchestral music)
is seven, seven times two is 14
seven times three is 21,
seven times four is 28
seven times five is 35,
seven times six is 42
seven times seven is 49,
seven times eight is 56
seven times nine is 63,
seven times 10 is 70
seven times 11 is 77,
seven times 12 is 84.
- [Teacher] Today, we
welcome t0 the school,
Mr. Johnson from the
Bank of Central Victoria.
- [Children] Good
morning, Mr. Johnson.
- [Teacher] Now he's
here to talk to us
about how important banks are.
- [Mr. Johnson] Thank
you, Miss Doherty.
During your life,
there are three things
you will need money for.
Anyone?
- Cars.
- Yes, that's right.
A car.
Yes?
- A house.
- Hopefully a very big one.
This is the most important
thing to save for.
- Santa Claus.
- No, not Santa Claus.
- [Student] For when we get old?
- Yes, your retirement.
When you're too old to work.
Without money for this,
what will you live on?
If you were to save
just 50 cents a week
and save it at the bank,
doubling your investment
every three years,
then 25 years from now,
each of you would have
$727,000 of your own.
- That's impossible.
There's only 52 weeks in a year.
- Yes.
Yes, that's right.
- And in 25 years-
- You'll only have 1,300 weeks.
- That's right.
- Let me show you how it works.
Compound interest.
You get interest
on your interest.
Do you understand?
- Yeah, I do.
- Good.
Now, on behalf of the
Bank of Central Victoria,
we'd like to give you
each your first deposit.
50 cents.
(dramatic music)
(upbeat orchestral
instrumental music)
(keyboard typing)
- Okay, that should correct
the climate variation.
- [AI] Trade.
- [Jim] I can't quite get it
to predict the weather yet.
(Jim speaks in foreign language)
- Well done.
(man speaks in foreign language)
(Jim speaks in foreign language)
(keyboard beeping)
- You promised innovation,
a move to a new frontier
of trading and
investment efficiency
I believe that was
the term you used.
- Well, there has been an
8% rise in share prices
in the last three months.
- It was 16% in the same
quarterly report last year.
- May I remind you
that in the same quarterly
report last year,
we closed 1,100 branches
and reduced one third
of the workforce.
- Yes, a commendable
piece of work.
Quick, decisive.
Your first year with
us, a good start.
Now, may I remind you of a
fundamental business principle.
Companies grow.
16% last year means 20%
this year, 24% next year.
- Well, unfortunately,
there are no more
branches left to close.
- You have three months, Simon.
- Not good.
Get me the impact studies,
we're closing another
third of all city branches.
Let's advance the remote
personal banking programme
so we can fire some tellers
and make some fucking money
and one more thing,
set up a meeting with
the PR department
so that we can put a decent
goddamn spin on all of this.
What the fuck are
you waiting for?
Go. Go.
(soft music)
So what is it?
- It's fractal theory.
He's using it to try and predict
the stock market correction.
- And can he?
- Well, not yet, but if
these figures are accurate,
he's getting very close.
- I've seen this
kind of thing before.
A black box's found the INTX's
hedge fund for 12 months
before collapsing and taking
a half a billion with it.
- This is much more
advanced than that.
He's smarter.
- Yes, well, they're all
smarter until they're not.
- Well, it's a chaos
based technique.
It attempts to find
order in the madness
of the trading floor by-
- Really?
Can it take into account
a trader with a bottle
of red under his belt
who decides to go
long on the end
because his wife
is having an affair
with a Japanese sushi chef?
You see, that's the
one thing, Vincent
these things never take into
account, the human factor.
- Well, maybe they can.
He's building a programme
that can evolve,
that can learn from its
experience of the market.
He calls it Betsy.
- Great.
He's named it after
a fucking cow.
All right, let's get him in.
(Simon sighs)
(tense ambient music)
Whenever you're ready, Jim.
- I probably haven't prepared
anything simple enough for you.
- Well, just explain it as you
would to a very smart friend.
- Well, I began my studies in
undergraduate econometrics.
My honours thesis
was on Wall Street,
the three major crashes
of 1929, of '74 and '87
and I studied each crash.
I learned about why they
happened, how people suffered,
how small traders,
individuals with everything
to lose went t0 the wall.
So the next step
to me was obvious.
What would the
benefit to society be
if we could predict
the next market crash?
The suffering that could
be avoided would be huge
so I widened my research.
I spoke to market
fortune tellers,
trialled systems based on market
trends and historical data.
N0 one's even close.
They all missed one
fundamental principle.
So try to predict what
one person will do.
It's almost impossible.
But trying to predict
what 100 people will do
is much, much easier.
So with that in mind,
I began dobbing into the
nether regions of mathematics.
Fuzzy logic, non-linear
dynamic, chaos theory.
A particular interest to me
was the work of Mandelbrot
and his breakthrough
with fractal geometry.
Excuse me, can I borrow
your pen for a minute?
Okay, if we think
of it like this,
any simple inciting event
has significant and
complex results.
It brings about things
that we could never imagine
being able to predict,
things like weather patterns,
cloud formations, right
down to the very point,
the very millimetre
where this ink will fall
until now.
This mathematics allows us
t0 predict almost anything.
If we can predict this,
then predicting the
stock market's easy.
- Thanks, Jim.
- Yes, thank you for your time.
- You don't think I went
too far with the tablecloth?
- No, I think what you're
doing is extraordinary.
- Thank you very much.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
- What a wanker.
- I want you to hire him.
- Really?
Why?
- Because that wanker
could be on the verge
of discovering the holy
grail of economic theory,
that's why.
- We have to wait here.
(ambient music)
(car door opens)
- What do you need?
- What?
- To make this thing happen?
To crack this nut?
(aeroplane whooshing)
(dramatic music)
(door closes)
(door beeping)
- [Vincent] Good to
see you again, Jim.
- Hi.
- Simon.
- Vincent.
Impress him with this shit.
- Right.
Well, what we've got,
Jim is a C-LOG Pro
so just off the floor at AP
it's the only one
in the country.
Dwarfs telecom, the
treasury, the military
to share's time with
our trading operation
and market evaluation team
have a priority line to it
but apart from that-
- Apart from that, it's yours.
- You can't do this alone, Jim.
You need us.
The power, the resources,
the practical applications.
We can make this happen.
- It's all I've ever wanted.
- So do we have a deal?
(ambient music)
- Okay, you got everything?
- Thanks mate.
- Watch your step there.
- What do you reckon Roger?
You get the ride?
- Yep.
- Roger.
Thanks mate.
- Hey, how are you?
- New post.
- Oh, they have to
serve it personally, Di?
You can't post it, it's the law.
- It's still an eviction notice.
The law's on their side.
According to this,
we'll lose everything.
The house, the
business, the lot.
- Hey, hey, hey, hey.
We just have to avoid 'em
for a while, you know?
Break up our pattern so they
can't serve the summons.
Ancl if we see 'em,
we'll leg it and hide.
- Great idea, mate.
Spend the rest of
our lives on the run.
You, me and Roger, fugitives.
- Ijust need a bit more time.
I'll get the money.
- It's not gonna work.
- What can I do, dad?
- No, nothing mate.
She's just angry with me.
Thinks I ruined the business.
But you don't have to worry
about it, you little fella.
You come here.
You're going in,
you're going in!
(alarm sounds)
- Good morning, sir.
- Me?
- Yes, sir.
- Morning.
- Good morning.
(car door closes)
- These figures will
scramble the future's results
from the past six months.
This should prove an
interesting dummy run for Betsy.
- How's progress?
- And what we're doing
Simon is a simple test
trying to predict a
small market correction
and respond to it accordingly.
The mainframe will throw up
a random series of trades
from the past six months.
- Let's try it online.
- I'm sorry.
- Let's throw some real money
into the mix, try it for real.
Expose ourselves to say $10
million and see what happens.
(Vincent chuckles)
- Well, we're not really ready.
It'll still take quite
a bit of time to set up.
- How long will it take?
- Well, we're only set
up to analyse one floor,
A digging room in Sydney.
- Vincent, get three of our
fastest traders on the floor.
We'll feed them by phone.
- By phone?
Simon, we've just set up.
- There are three
phone lines in here.
When your system
tells you to buy,
you tell the trader to buy.
When it says sell, sell.
- Yeah, but we've only just
installed the software.
- Yeah, to make a
pearl, you need grit.
I'm your grit.
You're gonna work so much better
with my foot against
the back of your neck.
It's a much underutilised
management technique.
What do you say?
- Well, it's not my money,
it's just a test to me.
- Great.
- Simon, $10 million?
- Yes Vincent, 10 million.
Let's see how this thing works.
$10 million, 30
minutes on the floor.
- Okay, this is the shape
in the next 3O minutes.
There's is a slight correction
in the last two minutes.
- [AI] Trade.
- September 10, 2002,
US two, two, US S&P500.
(Indistinct chatter)
- Sell
September 10, 2002 US S&P 500
1434.05, 942 sell
September 19, 2002 US Nasdaq -
(indistinct chatter)
(suspenseful orchestral music)
- It should start
turning down about now.
(Indistinct chatter)
- Okay, shit, it's not working.
Okay, stop it. Stop it now.
Okay, stop it. Get
off the phones.
- [AI] Correction
on Nasdaq, fail.
- Oh shit, we sent 11
trades down the line
after it should have dropped.
- Look at this.
It did turn down a bit late,
but you've predicted it.
- We've come out. Okay.
900,000 ahead.
- Ahead?
- You've been working
for us for two clays
and you've already
made a million dollars,
but you wouldn't have done it
unless I had my foot against
the back of your neck.
It's a good start,
Jim, very good start.
Let's have lunch.
(footsteps)
(knocking)
- Hey.
You have to move a whole
lot quicker than that.
You're their kid, aren't you?
Listen now, can you
do me a big favour?
Tell me where they are.
(ominous music)
Friendly little
buzzard aren't you?
Told you to keep away
from me, did they?
Big bad boogey man.
You just give them this.
You tell 'em they've been
properly served, okay.
(ominous music continues)
- Hi.
- You going out for a smoke?
- No
- You look like you need it.
- Oh, thanks. You working?
- I'm just here for
the architecture.
- Alright, which section?
- Couldn't tell you,
that's highly confidential.
- You're a teller?
- You can tell?
God that's scary.
What about you?
- No, you tell me.
- Hmm? I'd say computer
geek of some sort.
- Oh, that's close enough.
- I'm Jim - Michelle.
- I'll see you later.
(car ignition starts)
- Roger.
Roger. Come on mate.
Rogen
- Roger!
- Rog
- So how was lunch
with the king?
- You said he was a
big swinging dick.
I thought he was gonna
show it to me for a moment.
- That's a term I
haven't heard for years.
- What's it mean?
- Big swinging dick. Right?
They're one in a thousand.
They trade and everyone follows.
Not only could they
not give a shit
what anyone else is doing,
they can affect the market.
They're so closely watched
that any decision they make
has huge implications because
everybody follows suit.
- And when they're
wrong. I mean,
if everyone's standing
by waiting for them,
what happens if
they stuff it up?
- Big dick. Big pockets.
They survive. The smaller
players go t0 the walls.
- Do you like another drink?
- Alright.
- Same again?
(sultry jazz music)
(indistinct chatter)
- Hi.
- Hi. Jim, isn't it?
- Yeah. Michelle.
- This is Jim.
He works for the bank
somewhere in the basement.
What department was it again?
- I'm not allowed to tell
it's highly confidential.
- Oh, a mystery man.
Meet my far less
mysterious friends.
- Hi.
- So who are you here with?
- Oh, a friend.
Someone else from the basement.
- Well, when he leaves,
come and join us.
- Shouldn't we get to
know each other first?
- What if we don't
like each other?
- You're absolutely right.
(orchestral music)
(eerie orchestral music)
(woman singing opera
in foreign language)
(woman cries)
- You gonna do any
serious unpacking,
there's about a dozen
boxes in the next room.
- Who's Paul Jackson?
- You're curious, aren't you?
Oh, he's a mate
from primary school.
I haven't seen him for years.
- Well, you should return his
book. It's 20 years overdue.
You don't have to
look like them.
- You're probably right.
- What are you, Jim Doyle?
This apartment, the limo.
At this level,
you become a what?
- I'm a genius, maths.
Oh, and bed of course.
Come on, we're late.
(triumphant orchestral music)
(phone rings)
- Hello.
- Yeah, Jim,
I'm just going over
your progress report
over the last two weeks.
I'm a little alarmed by it.
Why? Because there's
no fucking progress.
That's why.
What's the hold up.
- Look, I don't know.
We're obviously missing
a key component.
I'm just on my way
to the lab now.
- Yeah, well that is always
the problem with you guys.
You spend too much
time in the lab
with your head up your ass.
- Well.
- Meet me in 20 minutes.
(indistinct chatter)
This is the front line, Jim.
This is where the
real action is.
- And you worked the floor.
- '84, Wall Street.
I mean, it's a little
different from here,
but the basic
principles are the same.
I worked the phones
for two years
before they let me make a trade.
We let the best of them
work outside the rules.
You have to give them free
reign once in a while.
- Right? And what if
they make a mistake?
- Well, since Barings went
down, they have limited power.
They work on a 10% buffer.
If their position goes
down below a certain level,
the computer cuts out,
which effectively cuts
off their trading,
which I think is a pity.
- Alright. Why is that?
- Well, the extremes are what
makes it worthwhile, Jim.
You'd love it.
You have numbers flying
through your mind
and you bounce them
back at each other
at all different angles to
see which ones come out.
You can hurl back into the war.
- What is it that
makes someone good?
- Well, I think
you have to treat
it like a game that
you can win at.
Oh, you see that guy?
- Alright. He doesn't
have it, right?
- Right.
- Do you think you'll have
it or are you like him?
You know, I once to set up a
series of trades and positions,
a billion dollars worth.
It was me against them.
But that day I stood
back on the floor
and I watched it unfold,
and it was extraordinary.
I took 200 million out of them.
I cut off their heads
and I emptied their guts
into the street.
" Really?
- Look, Jim, if you figure out
this magic black box of yours,
there'll be plenty of profits
to go all the way around.
- Except to those guts
were on the street.
- Except to them.
You ever noticed, Jim,
how you immediately put yourself
in the shoes of the losers?
Maybe there's something
that's missing is in you.
Make the breakthrough, Jim.
Stop whining like a fucking
woman and make the breakthrough.
- Hi, my name's Diane Davis
and I was wondering
if I could make
an appointment to
see a solicitor.
- So then this
elderly lady comes in
and she's got one of those
old Commonwealth
Bank money boxes.
You know the ones that
actually look like the bank.
- Um-hm
- She had about $16 all up.
So I slipped her
the hundred, $116.
You should have seen a face.
- Ancl they never found out.
- No.
And the irony of it is the
bank fired 300 honest tellers
a month later promoting me
t0 executive personal banker
and placing the bank's
wealthier customers
in my capable hands.
- So much money does your
client need before you become
an executive bank and
not just a teller.
- I'm after tax income
of 100,000 plus.
The bank's been closing
down the smaller
accounts for months,
doesn't want them anymore.
Encourages 'em to try the
smaller banks down the road.
- Oh, great.
So now the bank's run
out of staff to sack,
they're starting to
sack the customers.
- Don't worry, I'll
be out of a job soon.
The future's remote
personal bankers,
36 key strikes on your phone
and a synthesised female voice.
Okay, your turn.
Is this some secret promotion
that's brought you to Melbourne?
- Oh no, not really. It's um,
it's actually my first job
since I completed my PhD,
because they lured me here.
- To make your fortune?
- So to speak.
- So what do you do?
- I'm not allowed to tell you.
- Come on. Just a hint,
something abstract.
- I design mathematical
systems to predict things.
Yeah, well, today I
learned their actually
to make money very
effectively make money.
Nothing more exciting than that.
- Like a system to beat lotto.
- To beat the stock market.
- Every loser has a system,
whether it's buying shares
or playing blackjack.
- Oh no, it's a bit more
complicated than that.
It's, that's all I can tell you.
(computer beeps)
- [AI] Market correction, fail.
- Are we missing
something obvious?
- You might like to know
that the last seven tests,
if we'd been live, would've
cost the bank $26 million.
- Shit.
How long before you
have to tell Simon?
(aggressively presses
computer keyboard)
I need some fresh air.
(eerie orchestral music)
- And after Marshall,
Peters, and Rudderson,
we tried Cormack and Smith.
They all passed on
representing us.
That's 14 legal
firms all claiming
to be in the employ
of Centre Bank.
All claiming a
conflict of interest
that stops them from
representing us.
- Yeah, the pea banks
have a history of sharing
their legal work around
to make it difficult
for irate customers
to seek litigation as an answer.
It's a cartel of sorts.
- So, what do you do then,
when no one will represent you?
- Well, you end up with me.
And to be honest with you,
that's not really a good thing.
- Do you know
anything about banks?
- I know they'll crush
you with time and money.
And they've got plenty of both.
They can keep a case
in court for a decade.
- We don't care.
- You don't care.
Well, I've,
I studied the police findings
and there's little doubt that
the sheriff's office will be
found guilty of malpractice.
He'll have his licence
suspended for six months or so,
suffer some hardship from
the bad press he's getting.
- Some hardship?
- But apart from that, there's
not much more we can do.
No financial compensation.
- It's not the
money we're after.
It's the bank.
- The bank will most
likely distance itself
from the typical
employee relationship.
They'll claim some sort
of contracting arrangement
that absolves them
a responsibility.
My advice would be
not to pursue it.
I'm sorry.
- No, you're not.
You're just happy
to get rid of us.
(intense orchestral music)
- What is it with this guy
and fucking table cloths?
- He seemed to have made
some kind of discovery.
He worked around the clock
last night in the lab.
- I wonder if he's gonna
tell me about this.
- You still don't trust him?
- I don't trust anyone.
- I'm so close.
I'll probably need
about another week,
but she'll be able to run
another dummy test by then.
- Good.
Listen Jim,
I'd like you to join my wife
and I for dinner tonight.
We'll send a car t0 pick you
around about eight o'clock. Ok.
- I'm actually going out.
- That's okay. You
can bring Michelle.
- How did you know that?
- Ijust know.
I'm like, God,
with a better suit.
Eight o'clock outside
your apartment.
- Should I go?
- I've never been invited.
- There is one other option.
Essentially,
you lost your business to
a foreign currency loan.
I mean, you struggled
to make repayments
against a shift
in currency rates.
That's right, isn't it?
- Yeah, I thought it
was in Swiss Francs,
but it looks like it's in
Pesos 0r Yen or whatever.
- Yeah. Well, I,
I found a report on the net
that identified 138 other people
who lost their business
in the same way.
Now it seems in several cases,
the loans were
being entered into
without the bank fully
disclosing the risk.
They emphasised the
low rate of interest.
The currency risk was
treated as irrelevant.
Now, if we could prove the lack
of disclosure in your case,
well then the bank is liable.
- You'll help us.
- Well, I'll certainly try.
- Thank you.
- Don't be so nervous.
I'm good at this kind of thing.
Pleasant conversation.
A little flirtation.
The occasional crass joke.
- How long have you
been at the bank?
- Three years.
Still regarded as
temporary though.
Let me make that quite clear.
- You're too smart
to be a teller.
- I'm not a teller.
- No, it's.
Simon the bank.
They know about us.
- You are a pet
project at the moment.
Of course you'll be
keeping an eye on you.
- Yeah, I know but-
- Am I the eye?
(mysterious orchestral music)
(speed boat engine revs)
- Thank you.
Michelle, I'm sorry.
- Well, at least now
I know more about you.
You're paranoid and secretive.
- Paranoid?
(Michelle chuckles)
- Come on in, make
yourself home.
Welcome Jim.
It's good to see you. I want
you t0 meet my wife Monica.
- Hi, pleased to meet you.
- This is Michelle.
- Charmed, I'm sure.
- Come on in.
Just remember while you're
here, you're one of us.
Jim.
- Oh God, don't mind him.
He's just being an asshole.
(jazz band plays)
(indistinct chatter)
(child laughs)
- Ow!
- Gentlemen, would you join
me for a cigar outside?
- How's your foot?
- Jim.
- Don't leave me.
(audience applauds)
- What's the celebration?
- The yarra,
38 kilometres of Prime Crown
water funded real estate.
As of 6:00 PM today, it's ours.
- I'm sorry.
- Split it in a four acre
lots. You do the math, Jim.
How much do we make?
- Yes. You won't really
own it, will you?
I mean, you can
understand you're probably
behind the finance for it.
It's still Crown land,
republic owns it.
- Oh, give me a
fucking break, Jim.
We can step in and take
anything we financed
anytime we want to.
That's ownership. Market
force means exactly that.
We can seize assets.
We can use the IMF
to force countries
to pay their loans back.
We can react against any
government until they do exactly
what it is we want them to do.
- Nothing 100 well placed
businessmen do is illegal.
- Michelle.
- No, no, no, no, no.
It's fine Jim.
I find it refreshing,
assuming of course it
comes from a sweet naivete,
rather than a pig ignorance
of the real world.
- Oh, assume way.
- It's the brutal
truth Michelle.
We have now entered the
age of corporate feudalism
and we are the new princes.
- What do you call yourselves?
Bastards without borders?
- Oh Michelle-
- No, no, no, no,
no. I find it -
- Refreshing?
- Mm.
- I think we better go.
- No, I better go.
You might be needed later
to hold his dick
when he takes a piss.
- Oh, Michelle.
- Let her go, Jim.
We'll find you
somebody else to fuck.
- No, I'd better go.
Thanks Simon.
- Suit yourself.
(footsteps)
- Go, Go.
(speed boat engine revs)
Keep going-
Stop.
Let's go get him.
- What was all that
about back there?
- They're assholes, Jim.
- So we know that.
- We? No, I know that. I
don't think you know that.
Do you actually
think they like you?
- I don't care if they like rne.
- You are a puzzle, aren't you?
They're using you.
- Yes. And I'm using them.
Look, I'm gonna
crack this Michelle.
- Yeah.
- And they're giving
me the means to do it.
- Ancl they're gonna
get rich off it.
- I know what I'm
doing Michelle.
Just hang in with me, please.
- You are so naive, Jim.
- Hey, there you go.
Perfect.
Maybe we should get another one
just in case the trial goes
on a bit longer. Steven?
- Ay, I think that tie's fine.
- Everything's important, right?
- You clear on what
they'll ask you?
Any information about the
risks of foreign currency loans
could be seen as
adequate disclosure
on the part of the bank.
- Oh, they told me nothing.
- Even their own
staff can verify that.
- Well, the manager's testifying
that he told you everything.
It's your word against his.
- What about the
trainee who was there?
- Someone else was
privy to the meetings.
- Most of the time he was.
- Well, that's good.
- Oh yeah. Might be good.
First, we'll have t0 get
them to tell us who he is
and they won't wanna do
that. It'll take a subpoena.
But yeah, let's
see what happens.
(ominous orchestral music)
- How much have you got on him?
(computer keys clicking)
- Well, since we hooked
up to the tax office,
there's a bit of
healthy reciprocity.
It's all pretty straightforward.
Goes back to '77 when he
opened his first bank account.
Oh, a good saver since then.
I'd say he's a good catch.
(copy machine running)
- We have an increasingly
dangerous problem,
the kid who drowned.
The media's more than
happy t0 demonise us.
And the Davis family's coming
out of this like saints.
- Have you seen the parents?
Kid just probably woke up and
realised who he was born to?
- Yes, well, let's
not let our compassion
get the best of us.
We probably won't be found
liable for killing the kid.
But if they make any headway
with this foreign loan mess,
there's 200 cases just like
it that'll follow suit.
- We'll be drowning in 'em.
(chuckles)
- For fuck's sake.
Will you shut up?
We have to fight this.
Can't settle outta court.
We have to fight it
and we have to win it.
- We're starting up
some sex abuse rumours
about the father and the child
just to deflect the
heat, muddy the waters.
- Yes, well, don't
tell me about that.
- You don't want us to do it.
- N0, I don't want you
t0 tell me about it.
Now the only other thing
is that I'm a bit
worried about Jim.
He seems to be vacillating.
And the last thing we want is
for his conscience t0 tell him
to turn his research over to
the fucking Salvation Army.
So maybe we should check
this girl out one more time.
- Position where we're
not gonna be up to.
We're not gonna be able
to slow it down before
it gets to the that.
- Vincent, what's Centre
Bank's current value.
- Since the merger,
about $50 billion.
(indistinct chatter)
(ominous orchestral music)
- What's the problem, Jim?
- I've run the figures, Simon.
- Good. Let me have a look.
- Predicting the stock
market's one thing,
but the bank position against
even a small correction
that, the impact
will be devastating.
- Ancl what's your point?
- Have you thought
of the consequences?
- Of course I have.
- Simon, I haven't
spent years of research.
10 years of post-graduate
study for this.
- Do you know what upper
management is, Jim?
Do you know what I spend
most of my time doing?
Cutting.
I come in and cut
20% of the workforce.
I close 15% of the branches,
the factories, whatever.
The market applauds like I'm
some kind of fucking genius.
My life is dull Jim.
Before I die, I wanna do
something extraordinary.
I wanna do something that
will blow people's minds away
when it happens.
- Blow people's minds?
Simon, you and I'll
both be remembered
for destroying economies.
- Jim, most people live
lives of quiet desperation.
They struggle from
birth until death.
They never achieve anything.
Society crushes their hopes
and their aspirations.
History forgets them.
You will insult every
single one of these people
if you turn your back
on this opportunity.
- An opportunity
t0 achieve what?
- An opportunity to join
your peers like Mandelbrot.
To take your place in history
with the great mathematicians
and scientists like
Pythagoras, Valk,
Newton, Einstein, Oppenheimer.
- They used Oppenheimer's
work to make the atom bomb.
- Ancl the bomb ended the war.
You've got 24 hours to
resolve your ethical dilemma.
After that you can
do as you please.
Don't come back here with
this pathetic indecision.
(ominous orchestral music)
- [AI] 10,000
20,000
30,000
60,000
- What's this?
- Simon's gift?
We're now the most
powerful computer system
in the southern hemisphere.
And he also wanted
you t0 have this.
- This is next week's
balance and trade figures.
These are treasury figures.
How in God's name did he?
- My advice, don't ask.
Turn a blind eye.
Very helpful.
- Very helpful.
(mischievous orchestral music)
Okay, so what do we know?
- Well, we know that the system
will deliver transactions
simultaneously around the world.
Time differences means that
there's only a one hour window
when the US, Europe,
and overnight Asian indexes
can be accessed simultaneously:
74 markets, 22 exchanges.
- Okay, so leaving speed
our only stumbling block.
Did you think you'd
end up here, Vincent?
- Today?
- No. When you're a kid,
when you knew that mathematics
was what made you tick?
- I dunno.
I guess it's just been one
foot after the other for me.
Top of the class at
school, university.
First job out, Centre Bank.
- Yeah, but there
must have been a time
when you loved it,
when you'd dream about
where it could take you.
- Mathematics, permutations,
logic, strategy.
Maybe chess. I used to
play a lot of chess.
I learned when I was
about four or five.
I played a grand master once
at Westfield Shopping Centre.
He was playing 20 people at once
and I came so close to winning.
It's a brilliant game. I
haven't played it for years.
- Oh, we should
have a game one clay.
- Alright, I'd love that.
And what about you?
Did you know that
you'd end up here.
- A dear Japanese
friend said to me once
at the height of the eighties,
problem with you Australians,
is that you all want
be Alan Bond tomorrow.
Us Japanese, think in decades.
Something in that.
Oh, maybe not here, but,
I knew I'd be somewhere.
Are there any
programmers in-house
who could come up
with a speed doubler?
- Ancl you can run a speed
doubler on your home PC, Jim.
But we're talking about
millions of dollars worth
of mainframe hardware-
- The principals are the same,
a piece of software
that accelerates speed
through memory, efficiency,
data flow, re-routing.
Come on Vincent. It could help.
- No one here who could
do that sort of stuff.
We could outsource
it discreetly.
- Well, it won't
work without it.
Ah, there's a friend
of mine from uni
who's a genius programmer.
Will they need to clear him?
- I can clear him, but only
if he's as good as you.
- Some areas of mathematics.
He's actually better.
(Speaking foreign language)
- And does it?
(Speaking foreign language)
- Nearly killed me
coming up with this man,
you are working with
a serious hardware
and any speed increase is
normally splitting hairs.
- Will it work?
- It will do whatever
you want it to.
- So do we know who this
guy is they've subpoenaed?
- He still works
for us in Finland.
- A lot of those records lost
though, employment records,
trainees, if we
can't find them -
- It could be anyone we want.
Let me think about it.
Let's see what brains
is so excited about.
- Well, I've cracked
the mathematics of it.
It's just a matter of speed.
- Speed.
Okay, 1929, the big crash.
(dramatic orchestral music)
Good luck, Betsy.
- [AI] Trade.
Market correction matched.
- Throw up '74.
Try that.
- You try, Simon.
- [AI] Trade.
- Shit it works.
It works.
- [AI] Market
correction matched.
- We need to talk.
Using the system,
this is the market trajectory.
- Shit, the crash.
- We've nailed it, Simon.
Friday week.
- The triple Witching hour.
9:00 PM Friday, October 25th.
The expiration of the cash
futures and options contracts,
they all coincide.
It is the most vulnerable
point in the market.
- Exactly the same
thing happened in '89.
The crash will be devastating.
We're ready for it.
- Are we?
There are huge risks.
- No. There's no reason.
- Yes, there are
always risks, Jim.
- No, not this time.
It's mathematically proven.
Simon, if you position
yourself correctly,
you'll need 60
minutes on the floor.
In that time, the bank
will be worth 10 times
its current value.
The next opportunity won't
be till November, 2003.
There is no risk.
- You understand that we are
violating market manipulation
legislation in about
six different countries.
- You're not scared, are you?
After all this.
Simon, this is our moment.
This is our mark in history.
What is that your
big swinging dick
I can hear shrivelling up?
- What?
- You know what? I've done it.
We're there.
- I'm gonna have to
convince the board.
You know, I've never
really liked that liberal
bleeding heart of yours.
I'll need some kind of signal
of support, some kind of sign,
some act that will bind
us once and for all.
- Whatever it takes.
(suspenseful music)
- You've barely said
a word all night.
- I'm sorry.
- Sorry enough to
tell me what's wrong.
- Oh, nothing's wrong.
I couldn't be better.
(telephone rings)
- [Answering Machine] You
have reached the phone
ofJim Doyle. Please
leave a message.
- Jim, it's Vince here.
Simon wants me to take
you to court tomorrow.
Ancl he doesn't want
you going in a limo.
So my Volvo'll have to do,
I'll pick you up at 10
and then you can tell me
why you even know
about this case.
See you then. Bye.
- Court?
- Yeah, just an
expert witness thing.
You know, maths.
- Well. What case?
- Maybe the best thing is for us
to give it a rest for a while.
- What? Why, because
I asked questions?
- Yes.
Yes. Because you asked me
questions that I can't answer.
- Let me in on it, Jim.
- And you never thought to ask
anything more about the loan?
- No.
I assumed the bank had told
me everything I should know.
- This was the biggest
loan you had ever taken,
is that correct?
- Yes.
- And as such,
you had a huge responsibility
to take into account
all aspects of this
significant venture.
- Yes, I did.
And I did everything that I -
- You asked no
questions of the bank,
considering the scale of
personal responsibility?
You asked nothing of the bank?
- I trust banks.
(audience laughs)
I mean, I trusted banks.
I banked with the Centre
Bank for 20 years,
knew the local manager,
had every reason to believe
they wouldn't lie to me,
deceive me, conceal from me.
- And we will show
Mr. Davis that
in no way has this bank
broken your trust in them.
We have no more
questions, your Honour.
- And Mr. O'Connor?
- Thank you, your Honour.
I have no further questions
for Mr. Davis at this stage.
Your Honour, we have received
news from the Alexandra Branch
of Centre Bank that a subpoena
for a principal witness
has been successful.
We would like to call t0
the stand Mr. Jim Doyle.
(ominous music)
- He looks different.
- What?
Are you sure?
- Are you ready Mr. O'Connor?
Mr. O'Connor?
- Yes. Yes, your honour.
Mr. Doyle,
can you confirm for the
court that you are currently
employed by Centre Bank?
- Yes, I am.
- And that you were previously
employed in June, 1996?
- Yes, briefly, for
12 weeks as a trainee.
It didn't work out.
- You were employed at the a
Alexandra branch of the bank?
- Not specifically.
I spent three or four days
in each 0f11 regional banks
in the area as part
of my training.
- 11 Regional banks in the area.
That would've included
Seymour and Yay, would it not?
What were the others?
- Objection your Honour.
Surely the witness's
identity is not a question.
- Mr. O'Connor,
you have subpoenaed
the witness and Centre Bank
has been quite forthcoming
in providing employment
records, payroll statements,
group certificates, verifying
that Jim Doyle is Jim Doyle,
that he worked for Centre
Bank and that he was present
at your client's
briefing with the bank.
Where is this line of
questioning heading?
- I'm sorry, your Honour.
Mr. Doyle, do you know
this gentleman to my left?
- Yes, I do. It's
Mr. Wayne Davis.
- And how do you
know Mr. Wayne Davis?
- Mr. Davis requested a
loan from Centre Bank.
I attended several
meetings with Mr. Davis
when I was under training.
- I see. Do you
recall the details
of Mr. Davis's loan application?
- Yes. Some of them, I think.
It was assessed as
part of my training.
I could refer to my notes.
- I'm sorry. You what?
You took notes.
Do you have those
notes with you?
- Yes, I do.
(ominous music)
- Would you like to examine
these, Mr. O'Connor?
- Yes, your Honour.
Your Honour, due to the
complex nature of these notes,
I'd like to request
a short recess.
Fuck.
- That doesn't sound good.
- I'm sorry. I think I've
just handed them a win.
- Fucking assholes. It's
a lie. It's not even him.
- I should've, I'm so sorry.
- Please identify the
page pinned in your notes.
- It's a bank checklist.
It's a foreign currency
loan checklist.
It identifies the key areas
that the bank was required
to reveal to any
potential customer.
- Please describe your notes
on this page to the court.
- Well, they're ticks
next to each the point
I ticked them when the
manager, Mr. Green told -
- It's a lie -
- Is there a problem,
Mr. O'Connor?
- Yes, your Honour. I'd
like to move a motion -
- And Mr. Doyle how well
informed do you consider
the Davis's were about the risks
of a foreign currency loan?
(dramatic music)
- Well, as my notes show,
points six to 11 all deal
with the risks associated
with the loan.
Mr. Davis was well informed.
- Michelle.
- Something you want
to say, Vincent?
- Yes, I've worked for
this bank for 10 years
and I have never been
ashamed until today.
We didn't used to be like this.
I mean, I know we do some
shitty things sometimes, but -
- You're the one who taught
me about turning a blind eye.
- Yeah. Well, maybe I did,
but I just wish I
hadn't been there
and I hadn't seen you lie
and fuck that family's
case out of existence.
I respect your mind, Jim.
I envy it.
You know, I wish
I could comprehend
even a fraction of what you can.
Most clays, I look
across the lab at you
and I wish it was me.
I wish I was the one who could
come up with that formula.
But I know this much,
I could never do
what you did today.
And if that's what it takes,
then good fucking
luck to you, Jim.
- Stop with the car.
(ominous music)
(ominous music continues)
- Gentlemen.
We are on the verge of a new
era of economic modelling.
The profit generating
opportunity
that you've been looking
for has been found.
With the strategic advantage
of computer modelling,
never before imagined,
we have been able to predict
a major market correction.
A stock market crash
of unprecedented scale
that will decimate the market.
Now, the market has been aware
of this correction
for quite some time.
The new technologies boom,
the ludicrously valued companies
that have yet to turn a profit.
We're all aware of this.
We have certainly all
benefited from this.
Now we have an opportunity
to benefit from its collapse.
- There is no way that
we can implement this
and legally qualify the
off-balance sheet risk.
Surely, they'll shut us down.
- They certainly will try to.
That's why we must act
swiftly and decisively.
We have to utilise the
element of surprise
and we have to operate outside
the conventional boundaries
so that we can conceal our
actions from our competitors.
- And if we wait?
No, I'd like to take
this opportunity
to examine it a
little more closely,
get an independent
assessment of this system.
We've got people at
MIT who could run
their own tests
given a week or two.
- If we wait 24 hours, the
market will move against us.
We have to move now.
If we miss this chance,
we will be crushed
beyond recognition.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What about your own position?
We've given you an option
package worth millions.
- My confidence in this
prediction is absolute.
I am willing to put up
my share portfolios,
my personal savings, my real
estate package, everything.
I'll put it all on the line.
- That's quite a risk. Simon,
you'll give us written
confirmation of that.
- Of course, I will.
Let's not be too altruistic
about making this decision.
You also stand to benefit.
Every cent you have,
every share you own,
every bonus dollar you are due
will increase in value
10 times in a single day.
The system will work.
- This is the most
despicable scheme.
- Anything else, Ben?
- Yes.
I will tender to my
resignation if you go forward.
- That's fine with me.
- You can use this information
to weather the storm.
If in fact this crash happens,
stand by to minimise the
damage to, to survive it,
but to position
this bank, our bank,
to benefit from this,
this catastrophe.
And in so doing break every law.
- The law is made
by governments, Ben.
We operate a business.
We bounce up against
the law every day.
We push it, we pull
it. It is elastic.
- Ethics are not elastic.
Principles are not elastic.
Morality is not elastic.
We have a duty to the society
to treat this
information responsibly.
- No,
we have a duty to the
shareholders to wipe the floor
with our competitors. That's
who we have a duty to.
Now, if we don't do this
and somebody else does and
crushes us beyond recognition,
who will explain it
to the shareholders?
They are our people.
They are our society.
The public can take
care of themselves.
Now, I want you to think
about this for 10 seconds,
then I want you to
pick up your pen
and then sign the
document in front of you.
(ominous orchestral music)
- 20 years is a long time.
I was just hoping you had
some records of past students.
- Not really.
Anything we would have has
been sent down to the library
for archiving.
But like I said,
it's a long time.
- Thanks so much for your help.
- Mr. O'Connor, will you
be appealing the decision?
- Yes. Yes. We will appeal.
This is an outrageous
decision based on the trickery
and deception we've come to
expect from the banking system.
So yeah, you can mark
my word will appeal.
- Mr. O'Reilly, your
comments on the case today.
- Well, obviously we're
very happy with the result.
It's a clear
victory t0 the bank,
and I think it's a
testament to our commitment
and honesty with our customers.
Although you know our sympathies
are with the Davis family.
I must stress that ill-founded
a lawsuits of this type
are a complete waste
of everyone's time.
Thank you.
- Our son,
they've wasted our son.
(ominous orchestral
music intensifies)
- [Reporter] The class action
involving 200 other cases
has now been put 0n hold.
(ominous music intensifies)
- Okay, we go online in
the Northern Hemisphere
in 30 minutes.
Let's have another pass
of the cabling, Tanya.
Tanya, try one of the
key foreign exchanges
Hello.
- How's the tracking?
- Oh, a few final
checks then we're away.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
I can't be there with you,
but I look forward to observing
it from a safe distance.
- I understand.
- Good luck.
- [Jim] No luck needed.
- Good.
- Okay.
- Should be coming up with
sell 4,000 November Nikkei
down to 17,000.
(indistinct chatter)
- [AI] Nikkei 4,000
Down to 17,000 sell.
- Thank you. It's confirmed.
- We don't have
much use for this.
Can't remember the last
time we pulled it out.
Now these are the local newspaper
clippings for '75 to '77.
Should be a good place to start.
There's an index at the
beginning of each year.
- Thanks.
(ominous music)
- States in George's
Road turn off.
Federation House
should be sign posted.
It's not open to the
public anymore, you know
it's a private residence.
- Yeah, I know.
- Jim?
- Three minutes.
(bus engine revs)
(ominous music)
- We can get the
original article
from at the back if you like.
- Oh, no thanks.
(ominous music intensifies)
- Piece of shit.
(phone rings)
- Yeah.
- Simon, it's Billy.
I'm sorry to call you at home,
but I couldn't get
through to Christopher
and I have some bad news.
- What?
- I'm in Bueller,
Jim's hometown.
Christopher sent me down here
to follow the girlfriend.
He's been lying.
His real name is Paul Jackson.
1977 Centre Bank foreclosed
0n his family's farm.
- Lying fucking prick.
- Yes.
- Jim. It's me. I'm in Bueller.
I know you're know
who you say you are.
I don't know what you're doing.
But the thing is,
they're here, Jim.
The bank has followed me here.
(phone rings)
- All mobile phones will
be switched off now.
No calls in or outta this
room until we're finished.
Vincent, how long?
- Nearly there.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(phone rings)
- We're ready.
Are you okaY?
(sombre opera music)
I guess you've waited
a long time for this.
- Yes, I have.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(operatic chanting,
music intensifies)
- [AI] Trade.
(Indistinct chatter)
(phone rings)
- Come on. Come on,
come on, come on answer.
Pick up.
(ominous music)
(phone rings)
- Put it down.
(phone rings)
Do you know who I am?
- Yeah, I know who you are.
Just take it easy. Huh?
Here!
(gunshot)
- Shit.
Come on.
- Get the fuck down!
Sit the fuck down.
I swear to fucking
God I'll kill you.
Get down!
Get the fuck down or I
swear to God I'll kill you.
- This will all end
in tears for you.
- Everything else has,
I guess I don't care.
- Killing me isn't
exactly the best way
of honouring your
son's memory now is it?
- You killed him. You
killed fucking him.
- Did I?
Or did you just fail
in your business.
- The loan.
You knew you bastards knew.
- I know. I know.
They were a disaster.
They weren't fair.
I'll tell you what.
I'll give you $250,000
right now. What do you say?
- What? Now, you'll
give us the money.
Any interest on that?
Will that be Pesos
fixed against the Yen?
Any fucking charges?!
- No. No.
Look, I tell you what,
I'll give you a million
dollars right now,
but just make up your
mind what you wanna do,
because I don't
have time for this.
- Shut up! Shut the fuck up!
This is his picture.
- Look, it's Wayne, isn't it ?
Wayne, this is all
very touching but -
- Look at it.
I want you to look at him.
He's beautiful, isn't he?
- Yeah. He's a cloll.
- You're fucking dead!
- There's nothing,
nothing you can do to
make me give a fuck!
Do you understand that? Nothing!
Nothing, you can do can
turn your situation around
because he is gone.
You understand that?
Your son is gone. And if I
could bring him back, I would.
If there was something that
I could do, I would do it.
But I cannot! You cannot!
You will die with this
fucking misery in your heart.
Now you killing me, would
just put you in prison
for the next 20
years, hurt your wife,
fuck up the rest of your life,
if that is humanly possible.
Now I just wanna
make a phone call.
After that, you can
beat me, barbecue me,
fuck rne up the ass.
I don't give a shit.
Just let me make that call.
- Or what'll happen?
You're afraid of what'll happen
if you don't make the call.
- Look, I'll give you 2
million cash right now.
Okay?
What do you say? Just let me
make that fucking phone call.
(dramatic music)
- [AI] 10,000 trades sent. 60%
- Come on, faster. Faster.
- 12,000 trades sent.
68% complete
(dramatic music intensifies)
(gunshots)
(car zooms)
- [AI] 14,000 trades
sent, 80% complete.
- Jim, it's holding up.
It's holding.
- Yeah, hang there.
Hang in there.
It'll turn any moment it has to.
- [AI] 86%, sell, sell
- Jim, it's moving against us.
- [AI] 80% sell
- We're gonna have
to start buying back.
The losses are huge.
They're approaching
the 10% buffer.
This is ridiculous. It should
be automatically buying back.
It should be cancelling
our position.
Jesus Christ.
- Speed doubler
overrides the buffer.
I'm sorry, Vincent.
- Initiate the buyback.
We're gonna have to
do this manually.
- It's two diverse
requires too many trades.
- Turn off the, turn
off the machines.
Turn 'em off. Cut the power!
Cut the power!
We going to have to get
in from the mainframe.
(triumphant orchestral music)
- [AI] 100,000 trades sent.
- What the fuck is
that? Liquid paper.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(beeping)
- What's that?
- It means there is no bank.
Where is he?
(melancholy music)
(melancholy music continues)
(Jim speaking foreign language)
(friend speaking
foreign language)
- This is crazy.
We haven't got the time.
- So what do you do when you've
brought a bank to its knees,
economy to Rio, lunch
with Ronald Biggs?
You've had quite a day, Paul.
- Oh, come on let's stick
with Jim. I'm used to it.
- You could have
trusted me, Jim.
- How?
I was convinced that
you work for them,
that they'd planted you there.
- Why, for God's sake?
- It was too easy.
It was too convenient.
- It was easy
because it was right.
- Well, I know that now.
- Well, either way,
where's their money now?
- Oh, most of it's been
absorbed by the market.
Lost forever.
The rest has been redistributed.
$50 billion gone.
- All this to avenge your
father's death: one man.
- Yes.
Yes, it began with
my father's death.
One man.
The catalyst for all this,
a single inciting moment.
At the end of the day,
it's actually quite simple.
Ijust hate banks.
- What now?
- I'll have to leave
the country, disappear.
I was thinking maybe
that you could-
- Come with you?
- Oh, not now.
Sometime soon.
(romantic orchestral music)
(car door shuts)
- I'll just be a moment.
Your passport
expires in two weeks.
I just have to make sure.
You can travel on it.
You can,
but just make sure to reenter
the country within that time.
- Otherwise?
- Otherwise,
you might have a bit of
trouble getting back in.
Enjoy your trip, Mr. Jackson.
- Thank you.
- Oh, it's a mistake.
What do you make of that?
$727,000. That's not
our money, is it?
It's a mistake. We should
sort it out with the bank.
Closed it.
The nearest branch
is Lake's entrance.
It's a hundred miles from here.
Wayne?
- Got no idea, Di.
Just a simple man.
I guess if there's a problem,
the bank will let us know.
(dramatic orchestral music)