An Airing of Dirty Laundry consists of a series of fictionalised tales based on happenings during my 70-odd years tenure in the finance world. They are set in the 1970/80s when I was in the thick of it. In a small, make-believe entity, I have adopted for the purpose, the ‘Australian Banking Company’ (ABC Bank). All retold in a fictionalised scenario.
Because of the nature of their business, Banks possess their own unique culture. They are notoriously secretive, bound by longstanding banking law not to disclose the financial dealings of customers. They also zealously guard their reputation against any scandal to ensure their standing as sound, trust-worthy safe-keepers of money, is never jeopardised. So, it is a deliberate ploy on their part ‘to tell ’em nuthin’ on the basis that ‘if they don’t know, they can’t rock the boat.’
Banks aggressively pursue profit and because of their constant hard-ball approach, banker/customer relationships are not always harmonious. When disputes arise, Banks always claim the high ground, never conceding error. They fight hard and their customers have a difficult time gaining the upper hand. Rarely, does this intransience meet with any serious scrutiny.
On the other side of the banking counter, it is little different. Bank customers also jealously guard their privacy and hold their seamy secrets tight.
We have scant inkling of what goes on.
Against that background, I have lifted the lid a little to give a glimpse inside this secretive world and into the lives of those within it. I hope you enjoy the read and that perhaps when you next visit your bank, you might look at the people behind the counter and wonder whether any are hiding a guilty secret behind a smiling, poker face.
Table des matières
•Two fraud tales – one involving a ponzi scheme and one concerning a phantom employee on payroll. The ponzi scheme is perpetrated by a beautiful Eurasian woman whose Karma is tragic. In the other case, the fraud-person becomes a union advocate.
• A couple of war stories – In the skies over Europe and The Falklands
• A character’s prospect for diamonds in South Africa
• Religious bias with dire, tragic consequences
• One murder, one suspected murder, and one suicide
• Stories about some Calabrians, a Greek family, and a friendly KGB man
• Senior executive who becomes an alcoholic, homeless man…but has a lucky stroke
• A love story about a young man, a Surf-Club Boat Captain, falling unexpectedly for a young lady with cerebral palsy
• Three stories about silly men – one lets his heart rule his head and one leaves himself open to black-mail. In the other case, a Manager and his Accountant are irresponsibly forgetful
• The story of a teller being five hundred pounds short and mistrusted for 25 years…but finally vindicated
• Bank staff from a shipboard agency disrupting their ship’s departure but luckily escaping censure. The incident emerges 10 years later in an unlikely coincidence
• Senior executive materially exceeds his authority and becomes suicidal when things go wrong
• A go-getting Manager pursues new business but seasonal conditions disastrously intrude
• Concludes with an account of the foreign-currency loan debacle of the mid-1980s where banks’ adoption of a potentially risky product led to devastating losses for clients.
A propos de l’auteur
Bill Cuttance was born in Arncliffe, NSW on 19 September, 1931. He spent 70 years working in financial institutions: 40 years with one of the ‘Big Four’ and 30 years with the credit union movement. Retirement from the bank occurred in 1988.He was Chief Manager (NSW) Branch Operations and subsequently CEO of two credit unions, management consultant and contracted internal auditor for several others. Bill retired from this position in 2018, due to ill-health.Bill spent a good deal of his working life in risk management and investigative activities. He was also his bank’s national community relations manager, front man and advertising manager.The author has been writing all his working life: Board submissions and reports at senior level, along with Speech writing Submissions to high level conferences (e.g. National Conference of Australian Catholic Bishops). He also drafted copy for the initial National Credit Union Directors’ Manual.The author’s qualifications include:Fellow of Australasian Institute of Bankers.Bachelor of Arts (Syd.) Majoring in Marxist philosophy – Two honours years – met future wife – did not complete thesis.’Parallels between the Christian concept of Salvation and Marx’s Socialist Dawn’ – Two articles relating to the Marxist concept of Alienation in Capitalist Society, published in Communist/Socialist Press.Master Fraud Investigation and Financial Crime (Chas. Sturt).The author has been married to Helene (2nd marriage) for 33 years. Between them they have 5 children, 11 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren. Bill enjoys watching the ‘Wallabies’, Weeping Oriental Gardening, and reading Philosophy.
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