Close-out! Close-out! Close-out! An Opco Boone Adventure

The Adventures of Opco Boone, Legal Ace™ →Go uptown Index: Click ᐅ to expand: Opco Boone Finance fiction Tell me more Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.

Boone arrived just as the paramedics were dragging Dan Grade’s insensate form out . He seemed pale, but alive — though this may have been his face reflecting the dancing light from the inferno raging across the Wharf.

The huge Frenchman ushered them in. The General Counsel led her crack squad of ED commandos. They snapped to in front of the Head Trader. Florian shrugged. Fryer barked, “At Ease.”

Bosanquet’s corner office, usually a model of masterful tranquillity, was in disarray. Toppled stacks were strewn across the floor. Deal toys and tombstones were scattered. At a mahogany conference table, a pair of senior traders frantically tapped at calculators and annotated a giant chart. The Bloomberg terminal winked & flashed angry red. Out the window, the Wickliffe Hampton tower burned.

Bosanquet dropped a single sheet on his desk. There were some thirty names on it. Boone scanned them.

Wickliffe Hampton Limited
WHAM Properties Limited
WHAM Group Limited
Wickliffe Hampton Holdings Plc
WHAM Pacific Mortgage Limited
WHAM Mortgage Funding Limited
WHAM Cayman Finance Limited
Wickliffe Hampton LBO Investments Limited
Wickliffe Funding (UK) Limited
WHAM London Investments Limited
WHAM Asia Investments Limited
Wickliffe Hampton International Europe
Wickliffe Hampton Europe Limited
Wickliffe Hampton Limited

“Zeese names,” he said, gesturing at the towering inferno outside the window, “Zey are, ’ow say you, fouqued. We ’ave great exposure to zem. Eet is extremely volatile.”

One of the traders squeaked. “Oh!”

“I need to know ’ow we can close zem out. Vitement. Comprendez-vous?”

Chip Fryer picked up the sheet, regarded it, and nodded confidently. “Yes, Florian. I have assembled a crack squad of our finest ISDA ninjas. We will pull the docs and have a comprehensive answer for you in seventy-two hours.”

Seventy-two hours?

“That’s right!” Chip beamed.

“Mais, I want to know in seventy-two seconds. We will be dead in seventy-two hours.”