The Overly Competent Junior Employee

“Yes, Vice President.”

Meanwhile, Heo Jin-tae, the branch manager of Yuseong Investment Securities’ Seongnam Branch, was answering a phone call.

“How’s it going?”

The person on the other end of the line was the vice president of Yuseong Investment Securities. Heo Jin-tae had made the connection, and recently, things had been going well thanks to the vice president.

Heo Jin-tae’s attitude while taking the call was extremely polite, even though no one was watching.

“It’s being handled well. I’ve assigned the deputy branch manager to oversee it, and I’ve put the smartest person in our branch in charge of the practical work.”

“The fewer people who know, the better.”

“I understand. In the branch, it’s just me, the deputy manager, and the person handling the practical work…”

Branch Manager Heo Jin-tae, who had been answering the vice president, stopped mid-sentence. There was one anomalous presence who knew about this transaction.

While others in the branch might have noticed that something was going on with this deal, they wouldn’t be curious about it.

But Yoon Dokyung, who was helping Choi Woojin at his request as the person in charge of this transaction, was someone who never hesitated to speak his mind to Heo Jin-tae.

‘It’s a bit unsettling, but…’

Although it was unsettling, he had entrusted Choi Woojin with managing Dokyung, and even if an operations team counter employee looked at this case, they wouldn’t find anything strange.

Choi Woojin was already blinded by the incentive, so…

‘That idiot won’t cause any trouble, right?’

“Why did you stop talking?”

“Ah, I was just thinking if I had missed anything. I don’t think you need to worry.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

“I need this deal to go through well so I can make an appeal to the board. And you too…”

“Yes, if we handle this deal properly, won’t we be guaranteed the top branch performance this year?”

Various interests were at stake in this transaction. Yuseong Investment Securities was a subsidiary of the large conglomerate Yuseong Group, and most of its presidents were appointed through internal promotions.

With the current president’s term ending in a year, the vice presidents needed to boost their performance to appeal to the board starting now.

“And there’s one more thing, right?”

Of course, the branch manager was also tired of moving from branch to branch. It was about time for him to move to the headquarters and become an executive, so this year’s branch performance was very important.

“Yes, there is one more thing.”

At the vice president’s question, the branch manager slightly curled up the corners of his mouth.

“Don’t think you have to eat everything you’ve collected. Spread some around and make some allies for yourself.”

“Allies for me?”

“Yes, when you come to headquarters after going around branches, you’ll feel very lonely. To prepare for that time, you need to grease some palms of the people at headquarters.”

The branch manager nodded at the vice president’s words. In the end, the financial world was no different from politics.

Of course, bringing in a lot of money was important, but when bringing in the same amount of money, it depended on who was better at office politics.

“Yes, I understand. Thank you for always looking out for me.”

“Alright, come up once the job is finished.”

“Yes, take care.”

After hanging up the phone, Heo Jin-tae loosened his tie and approached the window. He had dedicated his entire life to Yuseong Investment Securities, and now he was finally producing results as a branch manager.

And now, with a headquarters appointment within sight, a transaction that would undoubtedly benefit him was in progress.

“I hope this job wraps up well.”

Heo Jin-tae, wearing an expression that mixed anticipation and worry, was quietly staring out the window.

Bzzzz-

Just then, as his mobile phone vibrated, Heo Jin-tae checked the screen and smiled. Then he pressed the call button.

“Oh, honey.”

The worry that had been on Heo Jin-tae’s face until a moment ago had disappeared, replaced by a smile.

“Right. I told you yesterday, didn’t I? If this job goes well, that’s all we need. The car? Go ahead and make the contract. If you contract now, we’ll receive it within the year.”

Heo Jin-tae then sat down, put his feet up on the desk, and continued talking.

“Hahaha, where’s the money coming from? I’m the branch manager of Yuseong Investment Securities’ Seongnam Branch. Don’t you think I can afford one foreign car?”

Heo Jin-tae boasted loudly, laughing heartily.

“And it looks like I’ll be transferred to headquarters soon, so keep that in mind.”

With a face full of greed, Heo Jin-tae imagined a rosy future.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

Brokers were active in various fields.

“Stock manipulation facilitating broker arrested.”

“Broker arrested for illegal lobbying in weapons deal.”

“Broker arrested for facilitating illegal loans.”

In Korea, the word “broker” had a negative connotation because it often appeared in news related to illegal activities.

However, the securities industry where Dokyung worked was a place that conducted brokerage business, receiving commissions for buying and selling bonds or securities on behalf of clients.

Especially in block deals like this one, it was also a type of work that brokers did.

“What? An illegal broker?”

While “broker” simply meant an intermediary, when “illegal” was added in front of it, it was a different story.

At the words that came out of Choi Woojin’s mouth, Dokyung looked at him with wide eyes, seemingly surprised.

Under the Capital Markets Act, which the securities industry had to follow and abide by, market manipulation, use of undisclosed information, and unfair trading were serious crimes that could result in severe punishment.

Among these, the existence of an illegal broker that Choi Woojin mentioned was an act of unfair trading.

“Yes, the classmate I just called is an assistant manager in Taesan’s corporate sales team.”

While it varied by company, if Choi Woojin or his classmate had reached the assistant manager level in their third year, they were among the most advanced of their peers.

Especially these days in the securities industry, there were many fourth or fifth-year associates around.

“And they rejected J-On’s block deal transaction because they saw it as insider trading, just as you predicted, Dokyung-ssi.”

“Insider trading?”

At Dokyung’s question, Choi Woojin nodded and opened his mouth.

“As written in these documents, J-On System’s contract with Yujin Communications is about to expire, but it seems Yujin Communications has created their own platform.”

The contract with Yujin Communications accounted for 55% of J-On’s annual sales. If such a long-term contract were to expire, it would inevitably have a fatal impact on the stock price.

After all, J-On System’s stock had risen due to its uncommon performance in the KOSDAQ market rather than its future potential.

“Then, three months later, when the contract expires…”

“Yes, the stock price will plummet. And Taesan and Seonjin Securities saw this block deal as insider trading based on internal information.”

One of the reasons they rejected the block deal transaction was exactly as Dokyung had thought.

Even if it were insider trading, if the commission had been large, Taesan and Seonjin might have thought differently.

But the transaction size was small, and the resulting commission was also small. There was no need to proceed with a risky transaction.

That’s why Dokyung was puzzled.

Although it ranked behind Taesan and Seonjin in the industry, Yuseong Investment Securities was still the third-largest securities firm.

“I don’t understand. It’s a deal that Taesan and Seonjin rejected, and even a low-level operations team employee like me can see it’s strange. Why doesn’t headquarters know this?”

Yuseong Investment Securities’ headquarters should be staffed with the cream of the crop in the securities industry. There was no way they couldn’t see the problems with this transaction.

“You don’t mean that illegal broker is involved…”

Dokyung asked Choi Woojin, hoping it wasn’t true, and Choi Woojin opened his mouth with a stern expression.

“That’s right. They say there’s word going around that an illegal broker is involved in this deal.”

Choi Woojin continued with a serious expression.

“Since the deal keeps getting rejected, they’re looking for a securities firm that will complete the transaction by involving an illegal broker.”

“You said the vice president was leading this transaction.”

When Dokyung mentioned the vice president, Choi Woojin rubbed his face and looked at Dokyung with a reddened face.

“Let’s assume the worst case scenario. The vice president is colluding with the illegal broker. A milder version is that the vice president is just accepting and proceeding with the transaction for the sake of performance.”

Choi Woojin presented two hypotheses. But Choi Woojin seemed to already know the answer.

“I… think the worst-case scenario is correct.”

As Dokyung spoke words that seemed to confirm the kill, Choi Woojin let out a long sigh.

“Sigh… Yes, they’ll probably pocket a separate commission for this transaction.”

The lead manager of a block deal usually demanded a commission of 11% to 15% at most.

This time, they thought the commission was small because the transaction size was small, but if many people were to receive backdoor commissions from this deal, it was a different story.

In other words, because there were many people to receive commissions, the securities firm’s commission had to be set low, and Vice President Hwang In-yong had approved this collusion.

He had thought so himself, but if even Dokyung with his good intuition thought so…

“If such talk is going around quietly, the vice president must know.”

“That’s right. Some people at headquarters probably know too.”

“But since it’s a direct order from the vice president, they can’t help but be cautious.”

Dokyung had been bothered all along by the fact that this block deal transaction was being handled by a mere branch rather than the corporate sales team at headquarters.

If it was a deal directly led by the vice president, it would be more convenient to do it at headquarters, so it was questionable why they would entrust a block deal transaction to a PB at a single branch.

However, through the conversation with Choi Woojin, he was able to peel away the layers of doubt one by one.

“Right. And if this deal goes through, the illegal brokers will probably pay a certain portion to the vice president.”

Dokyung felt a headache coming on. If this was an illegal block deal transaction as the two of them were speculating, Choi Woojin could be in danger later.

Of course, he could say he carried out the transaction under orders from above, but Choi Woojin’s reputation in the industry would be permanently affected.

“Then why did the vice president send this transaction down to our branch?”

“First, simply because J-On System is a corporate client that deals with our branch.”

Choi Woojin prefaced his words with “first.” This meant there were other reasons.

“Second, because the branch manager is in the vice president’s line.”

“Were they always close?”

This was news to Dokyung. Being in the operations team and only managing customers at the counter, he didn’t know much about internal branch affairs.

In fact, he wasn’t interested in office politics. He thought it was better to study stocks than to worry about such things.

“That’s right. Our branch manager is someone the vice president used to keep around when he was a branch manager.”

The vice president was a legend among Yuseong Investment Securities salesmen, having risen from branch manager to vice president.

“If the branch manager is also in cahoots with the vice president, it’s no different than dumping everything on me.”

Choi Woojin stood up with an expression of betrayal, holding the documents Dokyung had handed him.

“There’s no point in us sitting here racking our brains over this. It’s also a situation where suspicion breeds suspicion.”

Choi Woojin, who had put the documents in his bag, put on his jacket.

He needed to handle this matter decisively.

“Dokyung-ssi, can you summarize the afternoon market conditions and send it to me via chat?”

“Yes, I can do that.”

“Then please do. I’m going out somewhere.”

Dokyung wanted to ask where he was going but held his tongue. Choi Woojin would tell him later.

“Summarize the market conditions and send it to me. I’ll call clients while I’m on the move.”

“Yes, take care.”

“Thanks. For various things.”

Choi Woojin patted Dokyung’s shoulder and left the room, and Dokyung watched Choi Woojin’s retreating figure for a long time.