Industry (2020) s04e07 Episode Script
Points of Emphasis
1
So you knew.
No, I didn't know shit.
Surely, it was obvious that I couldn't stand
the little creep.
He was in our house
practically swallowing you.
Well, you should have
been fucking specific!
You introduced us.
You didn't think, I don't know,
maybe if you had concerns
about a
about a life-altering disaster,
one that you helped me
get into
You need to stop speaking
to me like that!
You never had the right
and you certainly
don't have it now!
Yas, what the fuck
are we gonna do?
Honestly, what the fuck
am I gonna do?
I mean,
"Now that you're implicated."
I What does it mean?
Oh, it's just
self-mythologizing nonsense.
It reads like
a guru terrorist manifesto.
It's a threat.
Look, I I I think, uh
I think what he's saying is
is that ignorance
is not a credible
legal defense for me.
He's saying
I won't be spared jail.
Oh my God.
Shall I wipe my phone?
- My emails?
- No, no, no, I don't think so.
- It's an admission of guilt.
- Yeah, but I'm not guilty!
I don't think
that matters anymore,
does it, Henry?
Fucking headlines
write themselves.
I mean, we live in a house
paid for by Tender.
Both of our salaries
will be cut off.
Our stock is worthless.
Where is the rest
of the money, Henry?
What?
What?
Where the fuck is it, Henry?
No one could put that much
in their arm.
You still have a fucking nose
on your face,
so where's
the rest of the money?
I used it to, um, to buy some
well, to buy Tender stock.
Oh my God.
Yeah, why are we talking
about money again?
The public perception
of my morality is on the block.
And, please,
take this with the love
with which it is intended,
but nobody gives a fuck
about how you come out
of this, okay?
- Not in the wider scheme.
- Are you kidding me?
Henry, we're gonna end up
with nothing!
We're gonna end up with nothing!
How can you give a single shit
about the fucking press release?
Because it's what matters!
Because I want to be better!
Because that's the purpose
of living a life. To be better!
You know, I am a good person,
and the world shall tell
that back to me,
otherwise what am I doing here?
- What am I for?
- Oh my God!
You're right.
You're right, of course.
I'm so sorry.
We're not the ones
to blame here.
Other people let this happen.
Remember that.
Of course.
Tender's up
almost ten percent already.
Uh, they've issued
another press release
of Tony Day's denials
in writing.
Anything new in it?
"Claims are baseless
and misleading
and do not represent
the company's financial reality.
The company maintains a robust
internal framework."
I mean, this shit
is literally designed
to make any reader glaze over.
Yeah, everything is a rehash
at this point.
Anything about a new audit?
No, just affirmations
of the results
of previous ones.
Okay, so we hold the line
until a new one is confirmed.
Yeah, well,
who's forcing them into that?
Without another audit,
we're dead in the water.
Um
Well, I mean,
maybe it's time we, uh,
meditate on how we catalyze
the audit that kills them.
What would Eric's
take be on that?
How should I know?
He decided not to be here.
Shut the door.
Can you, uh
let me gather my thoughts
for a second? Sorry.
Take your time.
We don't have much.
I feel like
I'm in the room with a reptile.
No, just a man.
Get whatever you need to
off your chest,
'cause I need you to focus.
I've been thinking about going
to the authorities all night.
Why shouldn't I?
You already know why you didn't go,
or you would've gone.
I'm an accessory.
- You're the face of the company.
- An accomplice?
Fraud, embezzlement,
market manipulation.
Hire the cream
of the legal crop,
you're not escaping
jail time, Henry.
So
why write me that letter?
Think of the optics
if my CEO went AWOL now.
Besides
we're close enough for honesty.
Fuck yourself.
Everything we have done
since we partnered
has been true.
Why let them rob us of our glory
for what was, at the time,
necessary
balance sheet imagination?
Our share price
will continue to recover.
Tender 2.0 has successfully
transitioned us
into real revenue
and phased out inflated
third-party acquisition flaws.
"Fake."
Do you start using
the fucking word "fake"?
I watched
SternTao's presentation,
which part of it
was wrong, exactly?
It's simply a misalignment
between the velocity
of my vision
and the velocity of regulation.
And that gap
is where smart people
have always made money.
Henry, look at me.
I have to buy time.
Make a clean audit
as protracted a process
as possible.
Delay and complicate
until some of our, uh,
overrepresented cash flows
can be swallowed
by a much larger balance sheet.
How?
Targeted acquisition.
Hostile takeover.
'Cause it's as simple
as saying that, right?
How the fuck
would that even work?
A few months ago,
when you said we should
increase our stake in Pierpoint,
I used Cayman
and Luxembourg SPVs
to build an undisclosed
synthetic position
to buy shares in Pierpoint.
Al-Mi'raj are
spinning Pierpoint out.
They've been looking for
an exit,
practically ever since
they bought the old bitch.
Do you even know
what you sound like?
This is how it's gonna play.
We say, "Due to
a transformational merger,
any audit must reflect
pro forma consolidation."
We need to hire more advisors.
Since you unwisely
fired my auditor of choice,
we have to add intermediaries,
add complexity
to the, uh, jurisdictional fog
of who audits us,
plus the media smokescreen
of a turbo-bullish headline.
I don't think
there's a single person on earth
who thinks like that
in this scenario.
No, you're lucky you have me.
What do I What do I do?
Believe in us.
One more time.
Whitney, the board's convening
in an hour.
Oh, God.
Well, I'm sure
it hasn't gone unnoticed
for the Secretary of State
that there are whispers
in the city
that some of the Tender profits
are as real
as a stripper's affection.
Well, I'm sure his colorful,
roguish language
will continue to play well
for the Andrew Tate clones
and Russian bots
who like all his posts.
This shouldn't descend
into cheap point scoring.
It is clearly
in the public interest
to understand
what position Tender is now in,
and what risk it might now pose.
Agreed.
So let's ask
the Secretary of State
to just explain the nature
of her interactions
with Tender senior management.
Sebastian, as a former
entrepreneur yourself,
you well know
that ministers routinely meet
with a large number
of business leaders,
stakeholders
and industry representatives.
All such meetings
are conducted in line
with the Ministerial Code
and they are properly recorded
in transparency returns.
But people are saying
that you and your department
were in bed
with Tender senior management,
and expedited their licenses
and approvals
in search of good headlines.
Expediting licenses?
I mean,
that is a serious allegation you're making
against the Minister personally there.
Yes. Do you have proof?
'Cause what you're saying is a deliberate
inflammation of totally normal practice.
So you are in bed with them?
I
Look, I'm not in bed with anyone
apart from my husband.
Sorry, you
- We almost had a scoop there, Secretary of State.
- Yeah. Yeah.
Uh, you have no proof.
Look, I understand
the mainstream media hasn't deemed
this front-page news yet,
but, uh, people's lives
and their hard-won finances,
they don't play out
in the business pages.
These are real people.
This is real money.
These are not pieces
on Whitehall's chessboard.
Lisa has, uh, has made a career
attacking Conservative,
cozy contamination of party politics
and business beliefs.
All I would say
to your listeners
is sometimes
when you are shown a hypocrite,
all you can do
is hand them a mirror.
Look, we've heard your spiel,
and we don't need
to hear it again.
Far more important
is the question
of how vulnerable this bank is.
There are suggestions,
Business Secretary,
you have seen on social media
Alexander, um,
are you in London?
What's the blast radius
of this fucking thing?
How big could it get
and how quickly?
We were doing our jobs
and fulfilling the PM's brief.
The insistent messaging
about post-Brexit dynamism.
The amount of bastard times
he said to me,
"Lisa, we can't keep
losing contracts
to Frankfurt and Dubai.
Make the world feel
we're pro-enterprise."
If you think deflecting blame
to Number 10's
gonna help your cause,
I'd advise a rethink.
We don't know
what we're dealing with yet.
We may have been elected
with a sandcastle majority,
but it doesn't mean
the PM needs to govern
like a shit-scared Kremlinite.
We're not gonna wear that risk.
What's stopping us
flushing this out,
calling our own audit?
We can't mark our own homework.
Fuck's sake.
And what does a fucking
self-inflicted bailout do
to our sandcastle majority?
The PM's gonna want
a fucking name.
Thanks for not throwing me
to the wolves.
I'd probably stand up
for David Cameron
against that toady gobshite.
Can I offer you an apology?
Spare me. I backed you.
And then
I watched your naivety play out
in slow motion.
Maybe we can ride this out.
How many off-book meetings
did you have
with Tender management?
How many times did
the Mucks pick up the tab?
How frequently are you recorded
as being in their offices
or their home?
Make no mistake,
if this flares up anymore,
they'll throw a body overboard
before Politics Hour,
and your answer
to those questions
is more damning than mine.
Sorry.
Yasmin, it's Jenni. Um
Thanks for reaching out.
Listen, I I I do think
I need to speak to Norton.
And Kevin from the red-top.
Kevin thinks the Prime Minister
is a Marxist, Jenni.
I mean, he makes Marine Le Pen
look like a Lib Dem councilor.
I still think
I am gonna need the help
of the Norton tabloids.
I'm just
I'm trying to see how
I'm gonna land in the fallout.
You sound a little scared.
I just need
to understand my options.
I need to be smart.
Yeah, okay.
Well, look, I'm here to help,
so let me see what I can do.
All right?
Sounds like they're scrambling.
Yeah.
Look, it's best for the family
to start shaping a narrative
that shifts the blame
to the right place.
Labour's relationship
with Halberstram predates mine
and Henry's involvement
in the company.
I think that's the story.
I think we should use
the tabloids.
Kevin.
He's the right man for this.
You know,
if we splash with this,
lead with the government,
I don't think there's any way
the company survives.
Have you factored that in?
It
It's what's best for the family.
Yes, you keep saying that.
Maybe there's no need for me
to put this delicately, but
may I inquire about the status
of your marriage?
You've seen my marriage,
Alexander.
His behavior,
his treatment of you,
it hasn't improved?
You know, I I'm not saying
that I'm blameless.
I mean, there are high highs,
but the lows are low.
Yeah, he's unfaithful.
- I know he's an addict, but
- He's relapsed.
- Drink?
- Definitely booze.
I'm not sure about the rest.
I mean, I know that
he's a cocaine user.
And I know he's used heroin.
Often.
Often?
Often.
Good afternoon, everyone.
We wanna launch a stock-for-stock
hostile takeover
of Pierpoint
ahead of their AGM this week.
Tenacious.
Henry and I could jump
on a flight tonight.
Our stock continues to rally,
so we'd be trading
at a premium to Pierpoint.
I don't understand why we aren't
privileging a new audit.
We have nothing to hide.
If there are no skeletons
in the closet,
why not open the closet?
I imagine there is
a time sensitivity issue.
Also a confidentiality issue
around disclosure of valuations
in the deal terms.
Henry,
you're Whitney's chosen man.
Is he making
the right call here?
Fuck's sake, Henry!
Tell them how passionately
you lobbied me for this
as our fearless leader and CEO.
Al-Mi'raj Pierpoint
is already subject
to audit supervision.
We could consolidate
post-acquisition
and submit to a group-wide audit
next year.
This is an essential move
for our longevity.
We are saying
to the world and market,
we aren't scared.
We don't run.
Running is not an option.
To be clear,
this isn't
final acquisition approval?
Correct.
With this vote,
authority is hereby
delegated to CEO and CFO
in concert
with legal and compliance,
to structure any transaction
and return
to the board with final terms.
All against?
I think it's high time
the men leading this company
stopped sidestepping
substantive questions.
Cool. All in favor?
Thank you, everyone.
This resolution is adopted.
Do you ever let go
of that crutch?
My only vice. Well, one of them.
If you ever see me without it,
you can assume I'm dead.
Yasmin suggested to me
that you may have, uh,
compromising recordings of us.
Explicit recordings.
Of you and who?
Do you?
What do you think?
You think I'm capable of that?
Yeah. Yeah, I do.
Then you've answered
your own question.
Yeah?
Wilhelmina, we're on our way
to see you.
I'm warning you, I am getting
a huge amount of blowback
about the Tender headlines
as we prep for tomorrow's AGM.
There's rumors of an Al-Mi'raj
term sheet floating around.
Word is you're being sold.
Clean structure.
Laughable leverage ratio.
That is not entirely inaccurate.
What are they pricing you at?
1.2 times book
and a 90-day clawback window?
You're not far off.
They're pricing us to go.
Well, uh,
let's speed it along for you.
Henry has something to say.
Al-Mi'raj never loved you
and had no idea
what to do with you.
We could be
a transatlantic giant.
You're not buying a fucking lollipop,
for Christ's sakes.
There's stakeholder optics,
governance, a process.
- Then give the floor to me.
- Well, how do you mean? At the AGM?
No. You have no formal standing.
You have the power
to cede the floor to me
under special motions.
You're not a stakeholder
of record.
Well, it should be known
that we're holding Pierpoint stock
under a number
of nominee structures.
And we're an important
strategic partner.
I don't have to be noisy
about price suppression,
or, God forbid, talk about
the undeclared sovereign wealth
in your recap structure.
What? That doesn't exist?
Well, me saying it
is almost as bad as it existing.
Or I could leak
my counter-valuation
to the press, or worse,
say that, um,
Al-Mi'raj is a distressed seller
in no position
to make a strategic exit.
I'll tie cinder blocks
to the Pierpoint price
and throw it in the Hudson.
Yeah, point made.
You wanna use our AGM
to declare a hostile takeover?
A hostile without hostility.
I wanna offer a premium.
Al-Mi'raj wants out.
Let's give them
an above-market print.
I'll get you a clean,
attractive exit.
And a halo for everybody's
fucking news cycle.
Look for two smiles
in the crowd.
Making our final approach
to Newark shortly.
Sorry about
how we covered your old man.
Ghastly stuff you went through.
Don't worry. He was a bastard.
Well, that
was the angle that sold, yeah.
Hi.
I need to run and grab Jen.
She thinks Princess Di
was killed by the SAS.
Take a seat, Jenni.
We know it all must feel
like it's sort of
getting on top of you.
But don't worry,
you're with friends.
You know, we have a roadmap.
No one's gonna ask you
to do anything.
You can just
sit there and listen.
You don't need me to tell you
how radioactive this is
for the government.
Someone's going down for it.
And Lisa is already
feathering her nest.
What have you heard?
You don't get to her position
by acting impractically.
I mean,
she's positioning herself
to come out of this
as the adult in the room.
Jenni, did you
ever raise any red flags
about Tender?
Did you feel stonewalled
by top-down expectations?
I haven't had a chance to reckon
with any sort of hindsight.
Um
Pressure
to help party leadership.
But Lisa was always
the cautious one.
Yeah, see, I'd cut that.
The messaging's pretty simple.
You were a young,
dissenting voice
overruled by grim,
old bureaucrats.
Your warnings were ignored.
You know, you were principled,
youthful, uncontaminated.
But you know how much
of this I was driving.
I mean, I was a guest
at a private residence
for fuck's sake.
I am the tainted one.
But nobody knows that.
I'm not gonna tell anyone.
If that's true,
why'd you even need me?
The solution's
pretty fucking clear.
If this goes front-page,
the company is finished.
I have deniability.
I was just one of thousands
of global employees.
- What would you need?
- Anything.
Memos, minutes, documents
that can overstate the case
for Lisa's proximity to Tender
and communicate her passion
for it to succeed at any cost.
Lies.
Points of emphasis.
Journalism shouldn't be
about myth-making
for an aristocratic class.
I I I can't.
Lisa brought me into government.
I wasn't even gonna run,
but she
she lobbied the National
Executive Committee.
She pushed for the safe seat.
What were you hoping
would happen in here exactly?
No, no, but when it's laid out
like this, so brazen, I
I can't do that to her.
Look, this
this entire conversation
is off the record, all right?
- All right?
- Naturally.
We appreciate your
principles.
Honestly,
these women are hilarious.
How do they think this ends?
If Bevan's not gonna play ball,
we need to figure out
another way
to stick this on Dearn.
Well, what if we picked it up
from another source?
I mean, surely then
we avoid direct liability
for sourcing
and verifying a leak.
If there is a leak,
a memo,
pick it up and make it pop.
Smart. Can say
we're reporting public domain,
less risk of defamation claim.
Ideally, it would be
an investigative outlet.
Add a veneer of credibility.
By the time we publish,
Westminster would be aflame
with the early report
and we can confirm it
as a coup de grâce.
These amateurs wanna test
the media food chain?
Maybe the front page
of a red-top can still
turn a minor outlet's work
into a fully fledged
fucking career ender.
Don't sound so excited.
Just leave it with me.
Great to meet you, Kevin.
Hard fucking bird.
Happy to see me?
Or is that impossible now?
I'm actually a little
more than surprised.
So, this is the nerve center.
Hmm.
- Where is everyone?
- It's just me this afternoon.
Lonely?
Always.
How have you two
not killed each other yet?
He exited the fund.
Maybe we finally did. Coffee?
- Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.
So, um, I have it
on good authority
that Dearn and Bevan
have been in the Norton offices
all morning
trying to save face and torch the other.
The cover-up is on, huh?
Yeah, the whole thing stinks.
I can personally verify
that government officials
were far too close
to Tender management.
I mean, the pressure.
They wanted
everything done yesterday.
I remember Dearn
introducing Henry at WebHorizon.
Wasn't Bevan at Henry's 40th,
or am I misremembering?
Yep. At Dearn's request.
But it goes
far deeper than that.
I mean, Dearn was always
in our offices.
You know,
the whole cabinet saw her
as an anti-business
trade union lover.
She wanted to use Tender
as an antidote to that.
A trophy.
Maybe Dycker missed
a big piece of the story.
No, I think this is the story.
And then there was the memo.
What memo?
Bevan says
that Dearn told her department
to bury a briefing note.
Tender represents a risk
to UK regulatory credibility
type of thing,
and it was suppressed
at a ministerial level.
FCA, PRA, National Audit Office?
Um, well, I don't know.
Like I said, I didn't see it.
Uh, this is just
what I was told.
Wow. You'd bet
a political firestorm
would speed the end
of the company.
Your job to bet, not mine.
Questions in Parliament,
public inquiry,
independent audit
of the government's interactions
with the company.
Maybe a government-mandated
audit into Tender.
Don't fuck me around, Yas.
Come on.
Be blunt.
What are you asking me to do?
I'm working on my own
escape.
I'm managing the timing
of my resignation
and also steering people to know
that I was a constant,
lone, dissenting voice
in the company.
You weren't though, right?
What difference does it make?
Our interests finally align.
Get this in front of someone
willing to write about it.
The share price
isn't gonna tank itself.
Help me help you.
The wake was a riot
with a beautiful eulogy
from his mother.
Jim was very honest
in his dealings with me.
Trust me, I tested him.
There was no personal
financial angle at all.
I, uh
I heard from someone
that warnings were made
and ignored about Tender,
that Labour's business
department are now at war,
passing the buck.
Well, your, um,
Sweetpea Golightly
got quite close
to bringing us an insider,
or so she made it seem.
You should probably
all leave journalism
to the journalists.
Look, there's talk of memos.
A top-down culture
of "act now, questions later."
Yasmin Muck,
who ran their comms,
repeatedly raised concerns,
again, on Deaf ears.
Do you have access
to these memos?
No.
No, I'm told they exist.
What do you want me to do then?
Frame the article as a question.
Don't name me.
Call me an insider,
a market source, whatever.
No one else has this.
You can be cautious
in your wording,
but any question is provocation.
The public's money
is tied up in this.
You know, your face does
this amazing thing
when your concerns become moral.
Your eyes soften
like you're trying
to trick your physiognomy
into telling yourself
you actually care
about this shit.
I'm tipping you off
on a huge story.
Has that been lost in the wash?
Make some calls.
Whitehall, the regulators.
Build it out. That's not my job.
Good opportunity for you
to carry Jim's torch.
Don't do that. Jesus Christ,
let's let's all agree
that that, that there
is fucking grotesque.
It's like the saddest
fucking thing in the world.
What's that?
Not a fucking word.
All right,
all right, all right. Okay.
You've reached Halberstram.
Leave a message.
Oh, fuck.
I was meticulous at every stage,
how could you possibly know?
Your dead-drop phone.
The identical model to the one
you often stare at.
The one you rarely turn on.
The one you take the SIM out of.
Powered it on when you landed
and autoconnected
to the airport Wi-Fi.
Fuck! Fuck!
That airport
is a surveillance choke point.
The calls to your fixer
and the subsequent ability
to map the flow of cash exchange
around the calls.
First payment of 120,000 dollars
to Sunpath Living
Residential Solutions,
a jouhatsu disappearing company
in Saitama Prefecture.
These night-moving
companies aren't the real deal.
It's like witness protection.
Someone wants to find you,
they'll find you.
Please, please,
just let me catch my flight
and disappear.
You won't hear from me again.
It is not an option.
While Tender has a pulse,
it remains a very useful
data set.
So what? If
it dies, I go with it?
On the contrary.
You stick around
and face the consequences
of your actions
without implicating me.
Us.
Escape is a fantasy.
You're only hearing this
because they want you to.
You no longer exist
outside their tolerance.
And the journalist?
Dycker?
Did you, uh
finish him, too?
You learn very fast
that compliance is the only logical path.
Continue onto the AGM
and everything
can be compartmentalized.
Tender buying Pierpoint opens up
an entirely new data set.
Tender's the future.
Tender's beautiful.
Just act like
the great lie of your life
is not that different
from its only truth.
You're world-class
at this performance.
I'll find the version of you
that fucking remembers that.
Go on. Off you fuck.
Why didn't
you answer your phone?
- Go to sleep.
- Who the fuck was that?
Someone I owe money to.
Fucking who?
Just a guy
I see when I'm here, okay?
- What guy?
- Just a fucking guy.
What?
You never fucking paid for it?
Go to sleep.
Did you see the story that ran
on FinDigest overnight?
FinDigest?
It's a digital fucking pamphlet.
Proper drilled
into your department's coziness
with Tender C-Suite.
I got a pre-publication notice
from the tabloids
on the back of it.
They picked it up and now
Norton wants to position you
as Tender's chief
governmental architect.
Not much spin we can put
on your dozen
or so Tender office visits,
your introduction
of Henry to WebHorizon,
or your photo op with him.
What about their reporting
of a suppressed
Internal Risk Assessment
warning against
Tender's rollout in the UK?
You know this is prefaced
by "sources claim"
because it doesn't
fucking exist.
Your initials
are on the provisional
authorization merger
and the granting
of Tender's UK banking license
that followed hard behind it.
And what else
do those minutes show?
The moment you walked
into that meeting
endorsing the PM's wishes,
it became a done deal.
Funnily enough, Norton
and his bullshit complex
didn't mention that.
Who else?
Which regulators didn't you hit?
How many red flags did you torch
before those cowards
- could run them up the flagpole?
- Wow.
Does sounding off
make you feel better?
Right.
“Acquit yourself of your charge,
for I have long been prepared.”
Excuse me?
It's what Anne Boleyn said
before the blade
kissed her pretty White neck.
It means
get the fuck on with it.
I accept
ministerial responsibility
and I will weigh resignation
as a point of principle. Okay?
Like fuck you will.
The PM's expecting
your resignation letter
on his desk
before the story runs.
Short and sweet, to his point.
You're always
too romantic, Lisa.
You mean Secretary of State?
No, I don't.
We remain well capitalized
with a core Tier 1
capital ratio of
What's wrong
with you? You look terrible.
I'm not feeling myself.
Now, as ever,
- I would like to close my remarks
- I don't think I can do this.
- by saying that
- Yeah, well, you have to.
we at Al-Mi'raj Pierpoint
pride ourselves
- on our proximity to regulators.
- I can't.
That said, unless anyone has
- anything they wish to add
- You need to fucking perform.
ladies, gentlemen.
At this point, I'd like to open
the floor to questions.
- Whitney, look at me.
- Okay, quite a few.
Do the fucking thing you do.
Yes, I would like
to start with Mr. Halberstram
whose courage-under-fire
leadership
of our strategic partner,
Tender, has not gone unnoticed.
Whitney, you wanna kick us off?
Any operational insights
you'd like to share?
I, uh
speak on behalf of myself
and our CEO, Henry Muck.
It's a privilege to be
with you all this afternoon.
This is a homecoming for me.
We'd like it
to be one for Tender too.
I don't have a question.
I have an offer.
We don't see it
as discretionary.
It's deterministic.
We wanna be
US dollar natives again.
Our offer for Pierpoint
is 1.9 times book.
Peers trade closer to 1.3 times,
so why the hell the premium?
It is a display of faith
in what we believe
this union to be.
A marriage of balance sheets,
of regulatory infrastructure,
trust.
The offer is 90 percent stock.
Your stock is too volatile.
This man should not be heard.
He isn't serious.
Your company is falling apart.
Fake news. Detractors have
been at our door since jump
from being too early,
too fast, too big.
Railroad to the internet,
the history of industry
in this country
is pockmarked by a slew
of disinformation
from those
who don't stand to benefit
from radical thought
or the displacement
of worn-out structures.
More bullshit.
Mr. Halberstram's
offer must be heard.
Please, continue.
Thank you.
The offer's
mostly stock for stock.
By year one, we expect it
to be earnings accretive.
By year two, this thing's gonna
be paying for itself
through capital efficiency
and operational overlap.
I leave you with the words that
every industrialist had
sewn into their souls
at every point
in the last century.
We want speed.
We want scale.
We want certainty.
We want America.
Uh, well, Mr. Halberstram,
we certainly
appreciate your remarks,
and our C-Suite will take them
into consideration. Thank you.
Have you prepped Henry
about the headline?
No.
Because we both know
there's no hope of the company
surviving this.
No.
Yasmin, we're not off stone yet.
It's not too late
for me to slip the page
and change the splash.
I can stop it running.
I don't think that's wise.
Henry won't survive it.
This is more
than just tough love.
He's lived his entire life
without any consequences.
I mean,
look where it's gotten him.
But is this loving him?
Yes, Alexander. Yes, it is.
We've done everything
we can for him.
You did
more than anyone
else could have.
We did
everything we can for him.
I've gotta go. Okay?
Fuck.
Wakey, wakey.
Rise and shine.
We're almost home.
Bad sleep.
Bad dreams.
What was the dream?
It's often my
my father leaving.
People leaving.
Everyone we love has already
started the process
of going away.
I didn't sleep much.
I've been waiting
for Wilhelmina to call.
Tell me.
That Al-Mi'raj exec
who supported your speaking
in the meeting.
Why'd he break rank?
Maybe he really believes
in transparency, Henry.
Maybe he used to date Hayley.
Date?
Sure.
- Shit.
- What?
They pushed
the Business Secretary out.
Dearn's gone.
Over over over what?
Wait. Oh my God.
Oh, God, I've got an email
from Kevin Rawle
giving me the opportunity
to respond to claims
made before publication.
They're running a story
about Dearn's involvement
with us.
It wasn't you?
What the fuck are you on about?
No, I need to
I need to, uh
I need to call Yasmin.
Kevin's fucked it this time,
the bigot cunt.
Why don't I got
a fucking signal?
Henry, relax.
The focus is Pierpoint.
Pierpoint?
What are you talking about?
You can't construct a universe
where nothing's real.
Nobody can really
live like that!
Do you know why you
can't regulate your emotions?
'Cause you're a fucking child.
Shut up.
I need to I just
need to get hold of Yasmin.
She can, uh, call my
call my uncle off.
What the fuck
I thought you hated your mother,
so why is your mouth still
attached to her fucking tit?
Oh for Why doesn't
this thing fucking work?
Fuck.
Fuck.
Okay, okay, okay.
Wow.
These were delivered
to your private office.
Okay. Um, who?
Oh, for fuck's sake
Who the fuck are you?
I'm temping. I've been sat here
the whole time.
- Yeah, okay. Where's Whitney?
- I don't know.
You mean he hasn't been back
here since we landed?
He's been in and out.
Okay, well.
Okay. I go home. No Yasmin.
- I come here
- She resigned this afternoon.
Sorry, what?
She gave notice
of her resignation
this afternoon.
Um, the LGBTQI+
delegation are waiting
Whitney, where the fuck are you?
Henry,
it's Wilhelmina Fassbinder
from Al-Mi'raj Pierpoint.
I owe you the call, not Whitney,
given my reservations
about his character.
Uh, to be blunt,
I allowed his little charade
at our AGM to jack up
our sale to Temasek.
It had been
in the works for some time,
and his proclamations
about our valuation
gave me a little leverage
for the final negotiation.
Uh, okay, yeah, um
Have you, uh,
spoken to Whitney at all?
I haven't. Although I
I hope you realize his yarn
about buying multiple positions
at Pierpoint was a bluff.
I called
his supposed intermediaries.
There's no term sheets,
no interbank confirmation,
no capital. There's no record
at all, nothing.
Snake oil and sermons
sound similar, don't they?
We will all be monitoring
the Tender fallout closely.
If your equity
continues to crater,
we'll trigger the conversion
on your bond.
Hmm.
And we will be pursuing
full recovery
so that our institution
doesn't suffer.
Um, good luck.
Hi.
Jenni, I'm just
checking how you're feeling
after how everything
landed for you today.
Did you hear
Dearn's resignation speech?
No.
I'm sure I'll get the highlights
on Twitter or whatever.
It's full of prevarications.
Spares the PM.
I mean,
the sentences carry
about as much weight
as a Tender press release,
if I'm honest.
Listen, it's yesterday's news.
Well, I mean,
it's tomorrow's news, obviously.
But good luck
with your television appearance.
It's a really great vote
of confidence that the PM
wants you to be the face
to front this thing.
And call me after.
We can talk about how I can
drive the rest
of your communications.
I'm sorry. What
Why Why would I want
or need that from you?
How much did you know?
What about about Tender?
That leak to FinDigest
that catalyzed
the whole red-top story, was
was that you?
Look, it doesn't
help you to know.
You have no fucking right.
You know this
is crashing down around
The right people will survive.
I've only ever
seen the sunniest version
of your disposition,
and I increasingly wonder
if that's because I've only ever
acted exactly how you designed.
Look, I know that
you're under a lot of stress,
but can you, um, can you
not take this out on me?
The real cancer
in our politics are the pigshit,
thick lightweights
without a single real belief.
Except for their own
self-advancement.
You knew
what taking that meeting meant.
You got exactly what you wanted,
and I have been
a genuine friend to you.
What fucking friendship?
This has been
a marriage of convenience,
but I suppose
you're used to those.
You know nothing
about my marriage.
I know
that your husband is an addict,
and I know that you deserted him
to his ruin.
You abandoned him
when he needed you the most,
so you take that
for a fucking dance
around your conscience.
Oh, fuck you!
How fucking dare you,
you stupid fucking bitch!
Yes, yeah, thank you so much
for letting me know. Speak soon.
- That was Burgess.
- Mm-hmm.
Big story in the tabloids
tomorrow, front page.
The Serious Fraud Office
are announcing their investigation
in the afternoon.
Yeah. Uh, the government's just
mandated a Section 166
"skilled person" review
into Tender's compliances
and risk controls.
The FCA are instructing PwC.
Stock's indicating
to open down 77 percent.
No one wants to catch the knife.
Tomorrow morning,
we hit the tape small.
Don't show our hand
and exit
as efficiently as we can.
Show me dollars.
Good. Yeah, we're all speaking
the same fucking language.
Hey, what's up?
You must be levitating.
Yeah.
Ironic I'm here with you.
Yeah, you used
to make me feel very alone.
Now you're the only person
in the world
I don't feel alone around.
I didn't want any of this
to come at your expense.
It's kind of everything
you've ever wanted,
really, isn't it?
Me like this and you like that.
It's true, it is.
- It is!
- Yeah.
Thanks for your honesty.
I mean, seriously,
how the fuck did we get here?
Fuck if I know.
What drives anyone anywhere?
Lack and need.
I'm so jealous of you.
I am.
You're so smart, you know?
And the way that you wear it.
You have this command, you know?
This autonomy.
I'm so fucking soft.
I don't really know
how to say this without
I would do anything to live
a day in your body and
and just, like, see
how the world opened up
around me.
I really resented you
for being a breathing example
of how I was less.
I choose to love you
for being a breathing example
of how I can be more.
I just want to be necessary.
I've never been necessary.
Like, where does that come from?
Like, the need for control
or desire to dominate?
Is it so you can say
I don't know, you were never
at anyone's mercy?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I guess
I guess I kind of grew up
at someone's mercy.
I'm sorry.
Do you want to go out?
I mean, like,
just blow things away
a bit, you know?
Do all the things
that Lorde sings about?
- Lorde sings about being 17.
- Exactly.
- God, I wish I was still 17.
- Girl.
It was so easy to get people
to do things for you.
Will you promise me something?
Hmm.
Will you look after me tonight?
When the fuck are you
gonna look after me?
Tonight.
You have no idea
how good I feel right now.
We're here forever,
even if we can't be.
So you knew.
No, I didn't know shit.
Surely, it was obvious that I couldn't stand
the little creep.
He was in our house
practically swallowing you.
Well, you should have
been fucking specific!
You introduced us.
You didn't think, I don't know,
maybe if you had concerns
about a
about a life-altering disaster,
one that you helped me
get into
You need to stop speaking
to me like that!
You never had the right
and you certainly
don't have it now!
Yas, what the fuck
are we gonna do?
Honestly, what the fuck
am I gonna do?
I mean,
"Now that you're implicated."
I What does it mean?
Oh, it's just
self-mythologizing nonsense.
It reads like
a guru terrorist manifesto.
It's a threat.
Look, I I I think, uh
I think what he's saying is
is that ignorance
is not a credible
legal defense for me.
He's saying
I won't be spared jail.
Oh my God.
Shall I wipe my phone?
- My emails?
- No, no, no, I don't think so.
- It's an admission of guilt.
- Yeah, but I'm not guilty!
I don't think
that matters anymore,
does it, Henry?
Fucking headlines
write themselves.
I mean, we live in a house
paid for by Tender.
Both of our salaries
will be cut off.
Our stock is worthless.
Where is the rest
of the money, Henry?
What?
What?
Where the fuck is it, Henry?
No one could put that much
in their arm.
You still have a fucking nose
on your face,
so where's
the rest of the money?
I used it to, um, to buy some
well, to buy Tender stock.
Oh my God.
Yeah, why are we talking
about money again?
The public perception
of my morality is on the block.
And, please,
take this with the love
with which it is intended,
but nobody gives a fuck
about how you come out
of this, okay?
- Not in the wider scheme.
- Are you kidding me?
Henry, we're gonna end up
with nothing!
We're gonna end up with nothing!
How can you give a single shit
about the fucking press release?
Because it's what matters!
Because I want to be better!
Because that's the purpose
of living a life. To be better!
You know, I am a good person,
and the world shall tell
that back to me,
otherwise what am I doing here?
- What am I for?
- Oh my God!
You're right.
You're right, of course.
I'm so sorry.
We're not the ones
to blame here.
Other people let this happen.
Remember that.
Of course.
Tender's up
almost ten percent already.
Uh, they've issued
another press release
of Tony Day's denials
in writing.
Anything new in it?
"Claims are baseless
and misleading
and do not represent
the company's financial reality.
The company maintains a robust
internal framework."
I mean, this shit
is literally designed
to make any reader glaze over.
Yeah, everything is a rehash
at this point.
Anything about a new audit?
No, just affirmations
of the results
of previous ones.
Okay, so we hold the line
until a new one is confirmed.
Yeah, well,
who's forcing them into that?
Without another audit,
we're dead in the water.
Um
Well, I mean,
maybe it's time we, uh,
meditate on how we catalyze
the audit that kills them.
What would Eric's
take be on that?
How should I know?
He decided not to be here.
Shut the door.
Can you, uh
let me gather my thoughts
for a second? Sorry.
Take your time.
We don't have much.
I feel like
I'm in the room with a reptile.
No, just a man.
Get whatever you need to
off your chest,
'cause I need you to focus.
I've been thinking about going
to the authorities all night.
Why shouldn't I?
You already know why you didn't go,
or you would've gone.
I'm an accessory.
- You're the face of the company.
- An accomplice?
Fraud, embezzlement,
market manipulation.
Hire the cream
of the legal crop,
you're not escaping
jail time, Henry.
So
why write me that letter?
Think of the optics
if my CEO went AWOL now.
Besides
we're close enough for honesty.
Fuck yourself.
Everything we have done
since we partnered
has been true.
Why let them rob us of our glory
for what was, at the time,
necessary
balance sheet imagination?
Our share price
will continue to recover.
Tender 2.0 has successfully
transitioned us
into real revenue
and phased out inflated
third-party acquisition flaws.
"Fake."
Do you start using
the fucking word "fake"?
I watched
SternTao's presentation,
which part of it
was wrong, exactly?
It's simply a misalignment
between the velocity
of my vision
and the velocity of regulation.
And that gap
is where smart people
have always made money.
Henry, look at me.
I have to buy time.
Make a clean audit
as protracted a process
as possible.
Delay and complicate
until some of our, uh,
overrepresented cash flows
can be swallowed
by a much larger balance sheet.
How?
Targeted acquisition.
Hostile takeover.
'Cause it's as simple
as saying that, right?
How the fuck
would that even work?
A few months ago,
when you said we should
increase our stake in Pierpoint,
I used Cayman
and Luxembourg SPVs
to build an undisclosed
synthetic position
to buy shares in Pierpoint.
Al-Mi'raj are
spinning Pierpoint out.
They've been looking for
an exit,
practically ever since
they bought the old bitch.
Do you even know
what you sound like?
This is how it's gonna play.
We say, "Due to
a transformational merger,
any audit must reflect
pro forma consolidation."
We need to hire more advisors.
Since you unwisely
fired my auditor of choice,
we have to add intermediaries,
add complexity
to the, uh, jurisdictional fog
of who audits us,
plus the media smokescreen
of a turbo-bullish headline.
I don't think
there's a single person on earth
who thinks like that
in this scenario.
No, you're lucky you have me.
What do I What do I do?
Believe in us.
One more time.
Whitney, the board's convening
in an hour.
Oh, God.
Well, I'm sure
it hasn't gone unnoticed
for the Secretary of State
that there are whispers
in the city
that some of the Tender profits
are as real
as a stripper's affection.
Well, I'm sure his colorful,
roguish language
will continue to play well
for the Andrew Tate clones
and Russian bots
who like all his posts.
This shouldn't descend
into cheap point scoring.
It is clearly
in the public interest
to understand
what position Tender is now in,
and what risk it might now pose.
Agreed.
So let's ask
the Secretary of State
to just explain the nature
of her interactions
with Tender senior management.
Sebastian, as a former
entrepreneur yourself,
you well know
that ministers routinely meet
with a large number
of business leaders,
stakeholders
and industry representatives.
All such meetings
are conducted in line
with the Ministerial Code
and they are properly recorded
in transparency returns.
But people are saying
that you and your department
were in bed
with Tender senior management,
and expedited their licenses
and approvals
in search of good headlines.
Expediting licenses?
I mean,
that is a serious allegation you're making
against the Minister personally there.
Yes. Do you have proof?
'Cause what you're saying is a deliberate
inflammation of totally normal practice.
So you are in bed with them?
I
Look, I'm not in bed with anyone
apart from my husband.
Sorry, you
- We almost had a scoop there, Secretary of State.
- Yeah. Yeah.
Uh, you have no proof.
Look, I understand
the mainstream media hasn't deemed
this front-page news yet,
but, uh, people's lives
and their hard-won finances,
they don't play out
in the business pages.
These are real people.
This is real money.
These are not pieces
on Whitehall's chessboard.
Lisa has, uh, has made a career
attacking Conservative,
cozy contamination of party politics
and business beliefs.
All I would say
to your listeners
is sometimes
when you are shown a hypocrite,
all you can do
is hand them a mirror.
Look, we've heard your spiel,
and we don't need
to hear it again.
Far more important
is the question
of how vulnerable this bank is.
There are suggestions,
Business Secretary,
you have seen on social media
Alexander, um,
are you in London?
What's the blast radius
of this fucking thing?
How big could it get
and how quickly?
We were doing our jobs
and fulfilling the PM's brief.
The insistent messaging
about post-Brexit dynamism.
The amount of bastard times
he said to me,
"Lisa, we can't keep
losing contracts
to Frankfurt and Dubai.
Make the world feel
we're pro-enterprise."
If you think deflecting blame
to Number 10's
gonna help your cause,
I'd advise a rethink.
We don't know
what we're dealing with yet.
We may have been elected
with a sandcastle majority,
but it doesn't mean
the PM needs to govern
like a shit-scared Kremlinite.
We're not gonna wear that risk.
What's stopping us
flushing this out,
calling our own audit?
We can't mark our own homework.
Fuck's sake.
And what does a fucking
self-inflicted bailout do
to our sandcastle majority?
The PM's gonna want
a fucking name.
Thanks for not throwing me
to the wolves.
I'd probably stand up
for David Cameron
against that toady gobshite.
Can I offer you an apology?
Spare me. I backed you.
And then
I watched your naivety play out
in slow motion.
Maybe we can ride this out.
How many off-book meetings
did you have
with Tender management?
How many times did
the Mucks pick up the tab?
How frequently are you recorded
as being in their offices
or their home?
Make no mistake,
if this flares up anymore,
they'll throw a body overboard
before Politics Hour,
and your answer
to those questions
is more damning than mine.
Sorry.
Yasmin, it's Jenni. Um
Thanks for reaching out.
Listen, I I I do think
I need to speak to Norton.
And Kevin from the red-top.
Kevin thinks the Prime Minister
is a Marxist, Jenni.
I mean, he makes Marine Le Pen
look like a Lib Dem councilor.
I still think
I am gonna need the help
of the Norton tabloids.
I'm just
I'm trying to see how
I'm gonna land in the fallout.
You sound a little scared.
I just need
to understand my options.
I need to be smart.
Yeah, okay.
Well, look, I'm here to help,
so let me see what I can do.
All right?
Sounds like they're scrambling.
Yeah.
Look, it's best for the family
to start shaping a narrative
that shifts the blame
to the right place.
Labour's relationship
with Halberstram predates mine
and Henry's involvement
in the company.
I think that's the story.
I think we should use
the tabloids.
Kevin.
He's the right man for this.
You know,
if we splash with this,
lead with the government,
I don't think there's any way
the company survives.
Have you factored that in?
It
It's what's best for the family.
Yes, you keep saying that.
Maybe there's no need for me
to put this delicately, but
may I inquire about the status
of your marriage?
You've seen my marriage,
Alexander.
His behavior,
his treatment of you,
it hasn't improved?
You know, I I'm not saying
that I'm blameless.
I mean, there are high highs,
but the lows are low.
Yeah, he's unfaithful.
- I know he's an addict, but
- He's relapsed.
- Drink?
- Definitely booze.
I'm not sure about the rest.
I mean, I know that
he's a cocaine user.
And I know he's used heroin.
Often.
Often?
Often.
Good afternoon, everyone.
We wanna launch a stock-for-stock
hostile takeover
of Pierpoint
ahead of their AGM this week.
Tenacious.
Henry and I could jump
on a flight tonight.
Our stock continues to rally,
so we'd be trading
at a premium to Pierpoint.
I don't understand why we aren't
privileging a new audit.
We have nothing to hide.
If there are no skeletons
in the closet,
why not open the closet?
I imagine there is
a time sensitivity issue.
Also a confidentiality issue
around disclosure of valuations
in the deal terms.
Henry,
you're Whitney's chosen man.
Is he making
the right call here?
Fuck's sake, Henry!
Tell them how passionately
you lobbied me for this
as our fearless leader and CEO.
Al-Mi'raj Pierpoint
is already subject
to audit supervision.
We could consolidate
post-acquisition
and submit to a group-wide audit
next year.
This is an essential move
for our longevity.
We are saying
to the world and market,
we aren't scared.
We don't run.
Running is not an option.
To be clear,
this isn't
final acquisition approval?
Correct.
With this vote,
authority is hereby
delegated to CEO and CFO
in concert
with legal and compliance,
to structure any transaction
and return
to the board with final terms.
All against?
I think it's high time
the men leading this company
stopped sidestepping
substantive questions.
Cool. All in favor?
Thank you, everyone.
This resolution is adopted.
Do you ever let go
of that crutch?
My only vice. Well, one of them.
If you ever see me without it,
you can assume I'm dead.
Yasmin suggested to me
that you may have, uh,
compromising recordings of us.
Explicit recordings.
Of you and who?
Do you?
What do you think?
You think I'm capable of that?
Yeah. Yeah, I do.
Then you've answered
your own question.
Yeah?
Wilhelmina, we're on our way
to see you.
I'm warning you, I am getting
a huge amount of blowback
about the Tender headlines
as we prep for tomorrow's AGM.
There's rumors of an Al-Mi'raj
term sheet floating around.
Word is you're being sold.
Clean structure.
Laughable leverage ratio.
That is not entirely inaccurate.
What are they pricing you at?
1.2 times book
and a 90-day clawback window?
You're not far off.
They're pricing us to go.
Well, uh,
let's speed it along for you.
Henry has something to say.
Al-Mi'raj never loved you
and had no idea
what to do with you.
We could be
a transatlantic giant.
You're not buying a fucking lollipop,
for Christ's sakes.
There's stakeholder optics,
governance, a process.
- Then give the floor to me.
- Well, how do you mean? At the AGM?
No. You have no formal standing.
You have the power
to cede the floor to me
under special motions.
You're not a stakeholder
of record.
Well, it should be known
that we're holding Pierpoint stock
under a number
of nominee structures.
And we're an important
strategic partner.
I don't have to be noisy
about price suppression,
or, God forbid, talk about
the undeclared sovereign wealth
in your recap structure.
What? That doesn't exist?
Well, me saying it
is almost as bad as it existing.
Or I could leak
my counter-valuation
to the press, or worse,
say that, um,
Al-Mi'raj is a distressed seller
in no position
to make a strategic exit.
I'll tie cinder blocks
to the Pierpoint price
and throw it in the Hudson.
Yeah, point made.
You wanna use our AGM
to declare a hostile takeover?
A hostile without hostility.
I wanna offer a premium.
Al-Mi'raj wants out.
Let's give them
an above-market print.
I'll get you a clean,
attractive exit.
And a halo for everybody's
fucking news cycle.
Look for two smiles
in the crowd.
Making our final approach
to Newark shortly.
Sorry about
how we covered your old man.
Ghastly stuff you went through.
Don't worry. He was a bastard.
Well, that
was the angle that sold, yeah.
Hi.
I need to run and grab Jen.
She thinks Princess Di
was killed by the SAS.
Take a seat, Jenni.
We know it all must feel
like it's sort of
getting on top of you.
But don't worry,
you're with friends.
You know, we have a roadmap.
No one's gonna ask you
to do anything.
You can just
sit there and listen.
You don't need me to tell you
how radioactive this is
for the government.
Someone's going down for it.
And Lisa is already
feathering her nest.
What have you heard?
You don't get to her position
by acting impractically.
I mean,
she's positioning herself
to come out of this
as the adult in the room.
Jenni, did you
ever raise any red flags
about Tender?
Did you feel stonewalled
by top-down expectations?
I haven't had a chance to reckon
with any sort of hindsight.
Um
Pressure
to help party leadership.
But Lisa was always
the cautious one.
Yeah, see, I'd cut that.
The messaging's pretty simple.
You were a young,
dissenting voice
overruled by grim,
old bureaucrats.
Your warnings were ignored.
You know, you were principled,
youthful, uncontaminated.
But you know how much
of this I was driving.
I mean, I was a guest
at a private residence
for fuck's sake.
I am the tainted one.
But nobody knows that.
I'm not gonna tell anyone.
If that's true,
why'd you even need me?
The solution's
pretty fucking clear.
If this goes front-page,
the company is finished.
I have deniability.
I was just one of thousands
of global employees.
- What would you need?
- Anything.
Memos, minutes, documents
that can overstate the case
for Lisa's proximity to Tender
and communicate her passion
for it to succeed at any cost.
Lies.
Points of emphasis.
Journalism shouldn't be
about myth-making
for an aristocratic class.
I I I can't.
Lisa brought me into government.
I wasn't even gonna run,
but she
she lobbied the National
Executive Committee.
She pushed for the safe seat.
What were you hoping
would happen in here exactly?
No, no, but when it's laid out
like this, so brazen, I
I can't do that to her.
Look, this
this entire conversation
is off the record, all right?
- All right?
- Naturally.
We appreciate your
principles.
Honestly,
these women are hilarious.
How do they think this ends?
If Bevan's not gonna play ball,
we need to figure out
another way
to stick this on Dearn.
Well, what if we picked it up
from another source?
I mean, surely then
we avoid direct liability
for sourcing
and verifying a leak.
If there is a leak,
a memo,
pick it up and make it pop.
Smart. Can say
we're reporting public domain,
less risk of defamation claim.
Ideally, it would be
an investigative outlet.
Add a veneer of credibility.
By the time we publish,
Westminster would be aflame
with the early report
and we can confirm it
as a coup de grâce.
These amateurs wanna test
the media food chain?
Maybe the front page
of a red-top can still
turn a minor outlet's work
into a fully fledged
fucking career ender.
Don't sound so excited.
Just leave it with me.
Great to meet you, Kevin.
Hard fucking bird.
Happy to see me?
Or is that impossible now?
I'm actually a little
more than surprised.
So, this is the nerve center.
Hmm.
- Where is everyone?
- It's just me this afternoon.
Lonely?
Always.
How have you two
not killed each other yet?
He exited the fund.
Maybe we finally did. Coffee?
- Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.
So, um, I have it
on good authority
that Dearn and Bevan
have been in the Norton offices
all morning
trying to save face and torch the other.
The cover-up is on, huh?
Yeah, the whole thing stinks.
I can personally verify
that government officials
were far too close
to Tender management.
I mean, the pressure.
They wanted
everything done yesterday.
I remember Dearn
introducing Henry at WebHorizon.
Wasn't Bevan at Henry's 40th,
or am I misremembering?
Yep. At Dearn's request.
But it goes
far deeper than that.
I mean, Dearn was always
in our offices.
You know,
the whole cabinet saw her
as an anti-business
trade union lover.
She wanted to use Tender
as an antidote to that.
A trophy.
Maybe Dycker missed
a big piece of the story.
No, I think this is the story.
And then there was the memo.
What memo?
Bevan says
that Dearn told her department
to bury a briefing note.
Tender represents a risk
to UK regulatory credibility
type of thing,
and it was suppressed
at a ministerial level.
FCA, PRA, National Audit Office?
Um, well, I don't know.
Like I said, I didn't see it.
Uh, this is just
what I was told.
Wow. You'd bet
a political firestorm
would speed the end
of the company.
Your job to bet, not mine.
Questions in Parliament,
public inquiry,
independent audit
of the government's interactions
with the company.
Maybe a government-mandated
audit into Tender.
Don't fuck me around, Yas.
Come on.
Be blunt.
What are you asking me to do?
I'm working on my own
escape.
I'm managing the timing
of my resignation
and also steering people to know
that I was a constant,
lone, dissenting voice
in the company.
You weren't though, right?
What difference does it make?
Our interests finally align.
Get this in front of someone
willing to write about it.
The share price
isn't gonna tank itself.
Help me help you.
The wake was a riot
with a beautiful eulogy
from his mother.
Jim was very honest
in his dealings with me.
Trust me, I tested him.
There was no personal
financial angle at all.
I, uh
I heard from someone
that warnings were made
and ignored about Tender,
that Labour's business
department are now at war,
passing the buck.
Well, your, um,
Sweetpea Golightly
got quite close
to bringing us an insider,
or so she made it seem.
You should probably
all leave journalism
to the journalists.
Look, there's talk of memos.
A top-down culture
of "act now, questions later."
Yasmin Muck,
who ran their comms,
repeatedly raised concerns,
again, on Deaf ears.
Do you have access
to these memos?
No.
No, I'm told they exist.
What do you want me to do then?
Frame the article as a question.
Don't name me.
Call me an insider,
a market source, whatever.
No one else has this.
You can be cautious
in your wording,
but any question is provocation.
The public's money
is tied up in this.
You know, your face does
this amazing thing
when your concerns become moral.
Your eyes soften
like you're trying
to trick your physiognomy
into telling yourself
you actually care
about this shit.
I'm tipping you off
on a huge story.
Has that been lost in the wash?
Make some calls.
Whitehall, the regulators.
Build it out. That's not my job.
Good opportunity for you
to carry Jim's torch.
Don't do that. Jesus Christ,
let's let's all agree
that that, that there
is fucking grotesque.
It's like the saddest
fucking thing in the world.
What's that?
Not a fucking word.
All right,
all right, all right. Okay.
You've reached Halberstram.
Leave a message.
Oh, fuck.
I was meticulous at every stage,
how could you possibly know?
Your dead-drop phone.
The identical model to the one
you often stare at.
The one you rarely turn on.
The one you take the SIM out of.
Powered it on when you landed
and autoconnected
to the airport Wi-Fi.
Fuck! Fuck!
That airport
is a surveillance choke point.
The calls to your fixer
and the subsequent ability
to map the flow of cash exchange
around the calls.
First payment of 120,000 dollars
to Sunpath Living
Residential Solutions,
a jouhatsu disappearing company
in Saitama Prefecture.
These night-moving
companies aren't the real deal.
It's like witness protection.
Someone wants to find you,
they'll find you.
Please, please,
just let me catch my flight
and disappear.
You won't hear from me again.
It is not an option.
While Tender has a pulse,
it remains a very useful
data set.
So what? If
it dies, I go with it?
On the contrary.
You stick around
and face the consequences
of your actions
without implicating me.
Us.
Escape is a fantasy.
You're only hearing this
because they want you to.
You no longer exist
outside their tolerance.
And the journalist?
Dycker?
Did you, uh
finish him, too?
You learn very fast
that compliance is the only logical path.
Continue onto the AGM
and everything
can be compartmentalized.
Tender buying Pierpoint opens up
an entirely new data set.
Tender's the future.
Tender's beautiful.
Just act like
the great lie of your life
is not that different
from its only truth.
You're world-class
at this performance.
I'll find the version of you
that fucking remembers that.
Go on. Off you fuck.
Why didn't
you answer your phone?
- Go to sleep.
- Who the fuck was that?
Someone I owe money to.
Fucking who?
Just a guy
I see when I'm here, okay?
- What guy?
- Just a fucking guy.
What?
You never fucking paid for it?
Go to sleep.
Did you see the story that ran
on FinDigest overnight?
FinDigest?
It's a digital fucking pamphlet.
Proper drilled
into your department's coziness
with Tender C-Suite.
I got a pre-publication notice
from the tabloids
on the back of it.
They picked it up and now
Norton wants to position you
as Tender's chief
governmental architect.
Not much spin we can put
on your dozen
or so Tender office visits,
your introduction
of Henry to WebHorizon,
or your photo op with him.
What about their reporting
of a suppressed
Internal Risk Assessment
warning against
Tender's rollout in the UK?
You know this is prefaced
by "sources claim"
because it doesn't
fucking exist.
Your initials
are on the provisional
authorization merger
and the granting
of Tender's UK banking license
that followed hard behind it.
And what else
do those minutes show?
The moment you walked
into that meeting
endorsing the PM's wishes,
it became a done deal.
Funnily enough, Norton
and his bullshit complex
didn't mention that.
Who else?
Which regulators didn't you hit?
How many red flags did you torch
before those cowards
- could run them up the flagpole?
- Wow.
Does sounding off
make you feel better?
Right.
“Acquit yourself of your charge,
for I have long been prepared.”
Excuse me?
It's what Anne Boleyn said
before the blade
kissed her pretty White neck.
It means
get the fuck on with it.
I accept
ministerial responsibility
and I will weigh resignation
as a point of principle. Okay?
Like fuck you will.
The PM's expecting
your resignation letter
on his desk
before the story runs.
Short and sweet, to his point.
You're always
too romantic, Lisa.
You mean Secretary of State?
No, I don't.
We remain well capitalized
with a core Tier 1
capital ratio of
What's wrong
with you? You look terrible.
I'm not feeling myself.
Now, as ever,
- I would like to close my remarks
- I don't think I can do this.
- by saying that
- Yeah, well, you have to.
we at Al-Mi'raj Pierpoint
pride ourselves
- on our proximity to regulators.
- I can't.
That said, unless anyone has
- anything they wish to add
- You need to fucking perform.
ladies, gentlemen.
At this point, I'd like to open
the floor to questions.
- Whitney, look at me.
- Okay, quite a few.
Do the fucking thing you do.
Yes, I would like
to start with Mr. Halberstram
whose courage-under-fire
leadership
of our strategic partner,
Tender, has not gone unnoticed.
Whitney, you wanna kick us off?
Any operational insights
you'd like to share?
I, uh
speak on behalf of myself
and our CEO, Henry Muck.
It's a privilege to be
with you all this afternoon.
This is a homecoming for me.
We'd like it
to be one for Tender too.
I don't have a question.
I have an offer.
We don't see it
as discretionary.
It's deterministic.
We wanna be
US dollar natives again.
Our offer for Pierpoint
is 1.9 times book.
Peers trade closer to 1.3 times,
so why the hell the premium?
It is a display of faith
in what we believe
this union to be.
A marriage of balance sheets,
of regulatory infrastructure,
trust.
The offer is 90 percent stock.
Your stock is too volatile.
This man should not be heard.
He isn't serious.
Your company is falling apart.
Fake news. Detractors have
been at our door since jump
from being too early,
too fast, too big.
Railroad to the internet,
the history of industry
in this country
is pockmarked by a slew
of disinformation
from those
who don't stand to benefit
from radical thought
or the displacement
of worn-out structures.
More bullshit.
Mr. Halberstram's
offer must be heard.
Please, continue.
Thank you.
The offer's
mostly stock for stock.
By year one, we expect it
to be earnings accretive.
By year two, this thing's gonna
be paying for itself
through capital efficiency
and operational overlap.
I leave you with the words that
every industrialist had
sewn into their souls
at every point
in the last century.
We want speed.
We want scale.
We want certainty.
We want America.
Uh, well, Mr. Halberstram,
we certainly
appreciate your remarks,
and our C-Suite will take them
into consideration. Thank you.
Have you prepped Henry
about the headline?
No.
Because we both know
there's no hope of the company
surviving this.
No.
Yasmin, we're not off stone yet.
It's not too late
for me to slip the page
and change the splash.
I can stop it running.
I don't think that's wise.
Henry won't survive it.
This is more
than just tough love.
He's lived his entire life
without any consequences.
I mean,
look where it's gotten him.
But is this loving him?
Yes, Alexander. Yes, it is.
We've done everything
we can for him.
You did
more than anyone
else could have.
We did
everything we can for him.
I've gotta go. Okay?
Fuck.
Wakey, wakey.
Rise and shine.
We're almost home.
Bad sleep.
Bad dreams.
What was the dream?
It's often my
my father leaving.
People leaving.
Everyone we love has already
started the process
of going away.
I didn't sleep much.
I've been waiting
for Wilhelmina to call.
Tell me.
That Al-Mi'raj exec
who supported your speaking
in the meeting.
Why'd he break rank?
Maybe he really believes
in transparency, Henry.
Maybe he used to date Hayley.
Date?
Sure.
- Shit.
- What?
They pushed
the Business Secretary out.
Dearn's gone.
Over over over what?
Wait. Oh my God.
Oh, God, I've got an email
from Kevin Rawle
giving me the opportunity
to respond to claims
made before publication.
They're running a story
about Dearn's involvement
with us.
It wasn't you?
What the fuck are you on about?
No, I need to
I need to, uh
I need to call Yasmin.
Kevin's fucked it this time,
the bigot cunt.
Why don't I got
a fucking signal?
Henry, relax.
The focus is Pierpoint.
Pierpoint?
What are you talking about?
You can't construct a universe
where nothing's real.
Nobody can really
live like that!
Do you know why you
can't regulate your emotions?
'Cause you're a fucking child.
Shut up.
I need to I just
need to get hold of Yasmin.
She can, uh, call my
call my uncle off.
What the fuck
I thought you hated your mother,
so why is your mouth still
attached to her fucking tit?
Oh for Why doesn't
this thing fucking work?
Fuck.
Fuck.
Okay, okay, okay.
Wow.
These were delivered
to your private office.
Okay. Um, who?
Oh, for fuck's sake
Who the fuck are you?
I'm temping. I've been sat here
the whole time.
- Yeah, okay. Where's Whitney?
- I don't know.
You mean he hasn't been back
here since we landed?
He's been in and out.
Okay, well.
Okay. I go home. No Yasmin.
- I come here
- She resigned this afternoon.
Sorry, what?
She gave notice
of her resignation
this afternoon.
Um, the LGBTQI+
delegation are waiting
Whitney, where the fuck are you?
Henry,
it's Wilhelmina Fassbinder
from Al-Mi'raj Pierpoint.
I owe you the call, not Whitney,
given my reservations
about his character.
Uh, to be blunt,
I allowed his little charade
at our AGM to jack up
our sale to Temasek.
It had been
in the works for some time,
and his proclamations
about our valuation
gave me a little leverage
for the final negotiation.
Uh, okay, yeah, um
Have you, uh,
spoken to Whitney at all?
I haven't. Although I
I hope you realize his yarn
about buying multiple positions
at Pierpoint was a bluff.
I called
his supposed intermediaries.
There's no term sheets,
no interbank confirmation,
no capital. There's no record
at all, nothing.
Snake oil and sermons
sound similar, don't they?
We will all be monitoring
the Tender fallout closely.
If your equity
continues to crater,
we'll trigger the conversion
on your bond.
Hmm.
And we will be pursuing
full recovery
so that our institution
doesn't suffer.
Um, good luck.
Hi.
Jenni, I'm just
checking how you're feeling
after how everything
landed for you today.
Did you hear
Dearn's resignation speech?
No.
I'm sure I'll get the highlights
on Twitter or whatever.
It's full of prevarications.
Spares the PM.
I mean,
the sentences carry
about as much weight
as a Tender press release,
if I'm honest.
Listen, it's yesterday's news.
Well, I mean,
it's tomorrow's news, obviously.
But good luck
with your television appearance.
It's a really great vote
of confidence that the PM
wants you to be the face
to front this thing.
And call me after.
We can talk about how I can
drive the rest
of your communications.
I'm sorry. What
Why Why would I want
or need that from you?
How much did you know?
What about about Tender?
That leak to FinDigest
that catalyzed
the whole red-top story, was
was that you?
Look, it doesn't
help you to know.
You have no fucking right.
You know this
is crashing down around
The right people will survive.
I've only ever
seen the sunniest version
of your disposition,
and I increasingly wonder
if that's because I've only ever
acted exactly how you designed.
Look, I know that
you're under a lot of stress,
but can you, um, can you
not take this out on me?
The real cancer
in our politics are the pigshit,
thick lightweights
without a single real belief.
Except for their own
self-advancement.
You knew
what taking that meeting meant.
You got exactly what you wanted,
and I have been
a genuine friend to you.
What fucking friendship?
This has been
a marriage of convenience,
but I suppose
you're used to those.
You know nothing
about my marriage.
I know
that your husband is an addict,
and I know that you deserted him
to his ruin.
You abandoned him
when he needed you the most,
so you take that
for a fucking dance
around your conscience.
Oh, fuck you!
How fucking dare you,
you stupid fucking bitch!
Yes, yeah, thank you so much
for letting me know. Speak soon.
- That was Burgess.
- Mm-hmm.
Big story in the tabloids
tomorrow, front page.
The Serious Fraud Office
are announcing their investigation
in the afternoon.
Yeah. Uh, the government's just
mandated a Section 166
"skilled person" review
into Tender's compliances
and risk controls.
The FCA are instructing PwC.
Stock's indicating
to open down 77 percent.
No one wants to catch the knife.
Tomorrow morning,
we hit the tape small.
Don't show our hand
and exit
as efficiently as we can.
Show me dollars.
Good. Yeah, we're all speaking
the same fucking language.
Hey, what's up?
You must be levitating.
Yeah.
Ironic I'm here with you.
Yeah, you used
to make me feel very alone.
Now you're the only person
in the world
I don't feel alone around.
I didn't want any of this
to come at your expense.
It's kind of everything
you've ever wanted,
really, isn't it?
Me like this and you like that.
It's true, it is.
- It is!
- Yeah.
Thanks for your honesty.
I mean, seriously,
how the fuck did we get here?
Fuck if I know.
What drives anyone anywhere?
Lack and need.
I'm so jealous of you.
I am.
You're so smart, you know?
And the way that you wear it.
You have this command, you know?
This autonomy.
I'm so fucking soft.
I don't really know
how to say this without
I would do anything to live
a day in your body and
and just, like, see
how the world opened up
around me.
I really resented you
for being a breathing example
of how I was less.
I choose to love you
for being a breathing example
of how I can be more.
I just want to be necessary.
I've never been necessary.
Like, where does that come from?
Like, the need for control
or desire to dominate?
Is it so you can say
I don't know, you were never
at anyone's mercy?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I guess
I guess I kind of grew up
at someone's mercy.
I'm sorry.
Do you want to go out?
I mean, like,
just blow things away
a bit, you know?
Do all the things
that Lorde sings about?
- Lorde sings about being 17.
- Exactly.
- God, I wish I was still 17.
- Girl.
It was so easy to get people
to do things for you.
Will you promise me something?
Hmm.
Will you look after me tonight?
When the fuck are you
gonna look after me?
Tonight.
You have no idea
how good I feel right now.
We're here forever,
even if we can't be.