A-199: Spanial, Common Area
If she has Finance as a skill she will just know the following, no need to roll. Failing that her Streetwise skill could provide the following information as well.
The Dominion Bank, Usury and Venture Capital
One of the main differences between the Dominion and our contemporary world is that usury, as per the original definition, is prohibited.
That is, it is illegal to charge interest of any sort on lending money.
As the sole provider of banking services in the Dominion, the Dominion Bank operates a little differently to the way a contemporary bank does when an individual approaches it seeking finance for something they want but can’t currently afford. Essentially, the Dominion Bank doesn’t offer loans, but can be used as a source of venture capital.
A contemporary bank will (sometimes, but not always, as the recent Royal Commission showed us) make some sort of a check to see if the individual is likely to be able to make a set schedule of repayments and then hand over a bunch of money and charge interest on the unpaid amount.
In the Dominion, the individual needs to approach the Dominion Bank with a business plan and offer the bank a partnership role in the venture. Generally the individual needs to convince the bank that the venture is (a) in the interests of the Dominion’s Prosperity, Protection or Victory and (b) not likely to make a loss in a reasonable term. The Bank will sometimes support a break-even venture if it’s shown to be in the Dominion’s best interests. If it is convinced of the plan, the Bank will then front its share of the cash and usually (but not always) appoint the individual(s) in question as the ‘Active Partner’ in the agreement, leaving them to run things. Sometimes the Bank will appoint a Bureaucrat to be an Active Partner who will take a hand in running things, though this usually only happens in the case of very large or high-risk ventures. The Bank then takes a share of the profits from the venture. Conditions of agreement vary with what can happen if the venture doesn’t turn out to be profitable; the best agreements have the Bank agreeing to cover the loss, but most agreements aren’t so charitable. In a Buyout Partnership, such as Karmen has said she has, the Bank allows the Active Partner to gradually buy the Bank out of their share, and as the Bank’s share decreases it takes less and less of the profits. Details of how much or little of the share over what period of time and whether the bank can refuse vary with individual agreements.
Given she knows the above from her Finance skill, from her Streetwise skill she knows that one of the shady services one can obtain on the black market is from a Usurer (we would call them a loan shark). That is, with the right connections, one can borrow money for a price.
Lia raises her eyebrows.
“Ahh, a partnership. How’s that going? You buying them out?”