Day One:

Day one refers only to my first day at work at Swiss Discount Bank or SDB as it is known as. What a day that was.

My name is Richard Wolfson. I am twenty eight years old; I like to think that I am pretty bright. I speak three other languages fluently – besides English – and can read in a couple more. I am very fit, not in the modern day sense of the word, I am no match for Brad Pitt, but in the physical fitness sense I am fit; I play squash, I run and I work out with weights.

Richard Wolfson is not actually my name and SDB is not actually the name of the bank I worked for. What is true is that Swiss Banks have billions and billions of dollars that lay unclaimed and not invested in dormant numbered accounts. The legacy of two world wars, refugee money and Nazi money. I was going to steal some of it.

I used to work for a family business, a fur trading business. It was a good business, well managed with a good list of clients. I only left the business because I wanted the arguments to stop. I suppose it is one thing to have a heated exchange with a colleague or your boss but an argument with your Dad has a different texture. At least that’s how I felt.

So it was my first day at work at SDB. My good buddy John Weil got me the job as a fixed income salesman. I had a desk right in the middle of a thousand person strong dealing room. The desk had four computer terminals; I had no idea what they were for. But then again I had no idea what I was doing. Fortunately John had organised a three month training program. I would learn about the bank, the banks business, how the bank functions operationally and then I would learn about the products I would have to sell. Good old John.

That first day I spent confused. I met at least a hundred people who were friendly yet un-interested and I still had no idea what I was doing. I nearly called it a day then.