Mikael Carlson

GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS

Intercorpex Logo

Intercorpex

The Global Stock Exchange

Intercorpex is short for the Intercorporational Exchange and is the world’s sole market for buying and selling shares in parent and subsidiary corporations. Founded in Zurich, administrative offices were moved to the former United Nations building in New York City in 2049 to be closer to where most trading occurred. It is run by the Administrator-General, a position that is largely considered the most powerful in the world. It doesn't mean that individual's power is unlimited, but the influence wielded can be matched only by the most powerful CEOs and Patricians.

TRADING SITES

Trading began in Manhattan at the old New York Stock Exchange building on Wall Street on October 1, 2045. A redundant site was constructed in London in 2045, with additional trading sites added in Beijing and Frankfurt in 2046. Upon completion of the last two facilities, intercorpex became a follow-the-sun operation. Trading is conducted 24/7/365 with no holidays or breaks. System maintenance is conducted during off-hours, and the backup datacenter is available in London for major work or issues. A tertiary disaster recovery and data storage site is also housed outside of Reykjavik on the island of Iceland.

 

LEADERSHIP

Intercorpex is led by the administrator-general based out of their Midtown Manhattan headquarters. The AG is responsible for managing the exchange’s strategic operations and implementing policies enacted by the regents. Since the charter, the influence and power of the administrator-general have steadily increased. The position now wields more power than the regents do. The position is a lifetime appointment, although most chose to retire and accept an appointment as a patrician or were ousted from control before their deaths.

 

The regents are a body that acts much like a corporate board of directors. The responsibilities of each individual regent vary, but most are assigned to oversee the corporations in a specific geographic area. Regents choose the administrator-general, and although not an official policy, typically choose members of their ranks to ascend into that position.

 

Proconsuls are liaisons between the exchange and corporations. They are consulted before adopting specific policies to gauge the impact on corporations and are responsible for ensuring compliance when policies are enacted. Proconsuls are chosen from the corporations without advice or consent from the exchange and may be replaced without notice. Appointments are formally accepted by the exchange, and although provisions exist for the exchange, and although provisions exist for the exchange to reject an appointment, it has never happened.

 

Site directors control the operations at each datacenter under intercorpex control. These datacenters house the matching engines and are located separately from the trading facilities in each city.

 

Operations directors control the trading operations at each trading center. One is assigned in Beijing, Frankfurt, and New York, and they report to a global director of exchange operations located in the new york network operations center.

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Corporations

The New Governments

Multinational corporations were global goliaths prior to the collapse of the global economy and the fall of governments around the world. By the turn of the century, these companies were already responsible for large portions of world production, employment, investment, international trade, research, and innovation. Their decisions affected not only employees, competitors, and customers but also the economies, day-to-day activities, and cultural norms the world over.

These massive corporations had incredible influence but did dominate the U.S. economy at the time of the collapse. In the United States, multinational parent companies employed approximately 24 percent of the U.S. private sector workforce in the late 2030s, a number that fluctuated but was largely unchanged since the 1970s. What had changed was how much society relied on what they produced and the services they offered.

 

These activities focused on manufacturing, mining, and trade-related industries on a global scale. Top companies became the repository for an oversized percentage of intellectual property produced by research and development. Their sheer scale and high profitability made these dominant companies ferocious competitors and necessary for the economic health of national governments. Policy and changes in prevailing opinion led to an increase in lobbying activities. This made them fluent in political matters and positioned them for power after the collapse.

 

When governments began collapsing in the midst of the economic crisis, it was these corporations that teamed up to step in and restore order. What started as a collaborative effort would see the individual entities congeal into a megacorporation that dominated whole regions. Subsidiaries were set up as municipal non-profit corporations to administer geographic areas. A new economic system arose from the ashes of the old, and instead of democracy and representative government, corporations took the seat of power.

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Patricians

The World's Elite

There is no place in the Zurich Canon or the in any corporate or exchange charter that mentions subdivision of the elite class. It is something that emerged naturally over time and the desire for elites to stratify their own ranks. A wide gap seperates the weathiest patricians from the "poorest" ones, thus powerful families longed for a mechanism to display to the world their importance. There is no documentation of who coined the names Prima, Gentez Majorez or Gentez Minorez. What is known is that the usage steadily made its way into the common vernacular and quickly became global dogma.

The patricians are divided into three general classes:

 

Primas – these patricians are the largest shareholder for a given corporation. Shareholders changed often for most in the early years of intercorpex and then became more static in the 2050s. Now with a few exceptions, the Primas of corporations are firmly entrenched in their positions. As a result, they are given special consideration by the companies they own. For example, the Bettancourts, long known as the Primas for powerful America Incorporated, are provided office space on Corporate Hill, have nearly unfettered access to the board of directors, and are very influential over the chief executive officer. Primas are identified by their gold family coat of arms.

 

Gentez-Majorez – they are the beyond wealthy upper patricians. They fall into two broad categories: major stockholders of world corporations who buy shares and those who engage in hyper-trading to enhance their fortunes. Most hyper-traders are wealthier than Primas and buy and hold members of the Gentez Majorez, using their constant buying and selling to amass tremendous fortunes. In this way, their influence comes with the financial resources they can bring to bear for or against a corporation rather than just having a large percentage of ownership shares in one. The Gentez-Majorez have a silver family crest.

 

Gentez-Minorez – the lowest class of Patrician, and the predominant reason why so many wealthier ones welcomed this rank structure. The lower class of elites are still wealthy as compared to executives or corporate employees, but do not have the obscene wealth seen in the upper levels. Newly-minted Patricians are accepted into this group. The Gentez-Majorez typically dabble on the GCSI, although they may own a few shares of stocks in the IGI. They have a bronze, tin, or metal coat of arms other than gold or silver.

 

Although it is difficult to achieve, there is upward mobility within the ranks of Patricians. Promotion from a Gentez-Minorez to major is not formal, but is typically granted once a majority of influential members of the upper class recognize them as such. Promotion to a Prima is more public, and is usually announced by the exchange when ownership reports are released quarterly.

 

Employees in most corporations discontinued use of family names in the 2040s when a position in the corporate world became more important than the family you were born into. That is not the case with the Patrician class who continue to use family names and wear them like a badge of honor.

 

The family coat of arms has come to symbolize patrician stature. They began wearing it on clothing like a lapel to announce their station. When fashion changed, and the tunic became the new standard for formal and business wear in the 2060s, men began wearing it around their neck at the throat in place of a necktie.

 

Patricians are the only private individuals entitled to own property. It is obtained by paying compensation (usually a tremendous sum) to a corporation for it. Most patricians, regardless of caste, have multiple residences and operate their trading out of countless offices around the world. Areas popular with patricians include: New York City, nearby Greenwich, Connecticut, the French Riviera, Tuscany region of the Italian peninsula in the SEU, London, Paris, and estates on several Caribbean islands. They employ their own staffs who are lured away from corporations (again for a price) and their own security for protection.

 

The men and women who make up the elite class have long had personal protection since even before the collapse. Over time, personal protection was expanded to include protection of personal assets and other family interests. Beginning in the early to mid 2080s, there was an explosion in the size of these security forces. More and more money has been invested in advancing their training and capabilities.

Three Patrician classes are firmly established, but there is a movement underway to add a fourth caste and further subdivide the existing castes to create a more robust ranking system.

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Qulis

The Unruly Tradesmen

“Quli” is a pejorative term used for low-wage laborers working for municipal corporations, mostly in America Incorporated, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom,  and other European corporations like the SEU. It is most used at the employee and lower-level management levels, although municipal CEOs have adopted the term. Corporate executives, especially among parent and key subsidiary leadership ranks, avoid using the term, at least in public. By the events of 2088, that has started to change, even among executives in the White House. The term is a modern adaptation of “Coolie” (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, or cooly), which was assigned to laborers of Indian or Chinese descent around 1890.

Qulis are not considered corporate employees. Most corporations organize them in unions, giving them a voice to speak with municipal executives and as a means to keep their unruly members under control. In the early days of the corporation, quli skills were among the most valuable in rebuilding the global infrastructure. That gave them leverage, and that was applied to keep these workers outside of the corporate fold. Executives had no choice but to agree, leaving future leaders to rue the decision.

 

Quli riots are commonplace in most corporations. In America Incorporated, it results mostly from a crackdown on what they perceive to be “their rights and privileges.” Some are quelled by municipal public safety and security, although the Bureau of Corporate Security is called upon for larger or more violent protests. As a result, there is no love lost between laborers and those security organizations.

 

Corporate crackdowns center around support for urches, the former employees who have left the system and choose to live in urban undergrounds and rural encampments. Anyone who removes their biojack is considered a “freejack,” and capture results in a death sentence. It has been long suspected that Qulis are responsible for helping freejacks reach the urch population and helping urches avoid capture. Qulis are also documented as making significant contributions to the urches underground economy.

 

The future of qulis around the world is very much in doubt. Many executives from multiple companies argue that the short-term pain of bringing them under the corporate umbrella is well worth the long-term benefit. This is especially true in America Incorporated, where the quli-employee divide is most pronounced, and the pressure on CEOs and the board of directors to make a change is most acute.

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