High Finance

Jerry Klein trades exotic derivatives for a major New York investment bank, happily minting money while mechanically progressing through the ranks as a self-described "perfect robot." When he's promoted to managing director and appointed to a client-facing role, Jerry experiences his firm for the first time in the context of the wider financial system where, driven by intense competition for profits and pay, the bank and its traders cut corners to take ever-greater risks. While senior executives battle for power over businesses they no longer understand, the firm they're meant to manage loses its way, and casual abuse of rules crosses into flagrant violation of law. As he navigates the rows and aisles of trading floors in a quest to understand a complex business with sky-high stakes, Jerry uncovers an insider trading operation involving colleagues and prominent hedge funds. Set over ten days in the run-up to the credit crisis, HIGH FINANCE opens a window on the investment banks and hedge funds that figure so prominently in modern markets. Want to know more about a world where marginal talents and dubious ethics reap richest rewards? Read this book. HIGH FINANCE comes with one important warning: it might just make you want to occupy Wall Street!