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looking for non-random movements to make market predictions. Alexis employs the same mix of staff as his rivals do, with many specialists from non-financial backgrounds, including mathematicians, statisticians and physicists. Big deal, they all do that. However despite everything appearing normal there’s something that he alone has been doing differently since four years ago, and I’m not sure what, but whatever it is…it’s caused him to suddenly hit a vein of gold that shows no sign of running out.”
    Stopping to take another sip of wine she fixes her fiancé with a raised-eyebrow look that says ‘So…cum’mon then, I’ve told you all this stuff, now you tell me what your real interest is?’
    Reading the expression on her face, John decides to make a comment as innocently as he can by way of a response. “So, like I say…-Kronos came-up at work today, and when I saw it was a company registered in the Cayman Islands, it immediately made me suspicious, you know, that there might be money laundering and that sort of stuff….”
    â€œI understand why you might think that, but the Cayman Islands are a major, and I mean major financial centre. Vasilakos manages a Hedge Fund, and that needs to be done in or near somewhere like London or New York, but you’ll find that these funds are always registered in some OFC.” She glances up and can see John is confused, “-Sorry, an offshore financial centre.”
    â€œThe Cayman Islands are the fifth-largest banking centre in the world and recently they’ve been introducing new, stricter financial regulations, -so don’t jump to any unnecessary conclusions. However, I can feel it in my bones that the performance of Kronos is just too good to be true and it is driving me nuts that the FSA can’t pin anything on them.” John is even more curious now, “Surely if they trade just prior to an announcement and stuff like that there are patterns that can’t be explained in any other way other than Insider Dealing?”
    Rebecca’s food has been getting cold; she’s unaccustomed to her ‘shop talk’ being of interest to John. “Having a pattern is not good enough. The FSA is a lot like the Police. Many of our successful proceedings start from tip-offs passed on to us from traders, allowing us to then gather sufficient evidence to make a case. With Kronos, there has never been anyone who’s been brave enough to come forward and give us that vital connection. Alexis seems to do things in his own individual style, -for example I’ve never understood why he bases himself in the centre of The City when most hedge fund managers now work out of Mayfair. He’s a real piece of work, very much an individual, a bit of a loner in the industry I guess and it’s become a hobby of mine to keep tabs on what he gets involved with. Alexis is extremely well connected, several cabinet ministers and more than one Supreme Court Justice are on pretty friendly terms with him. But whereas most other institutions make sizeable donations to things like children’s charities and AIDS foundations, there’s never been anything on record as Alexis having done anything like that. Most people who make donations don’t keep quiet about it, they expect to milk it for all the good publicity they can. You’d think he’d be bothered about PR just as much as everyone else wouldn’t you? But apparently he isn’t.”
    Seeing that her partner’s plate has been emptied, she affords herself a little bit of time to take down a few mouthfuls of food even though her mind is still fully engrossed in the strangeness of Alexis and his outrageous profit making abilities. “I wish I could fathom-out why he doesn’t give a shit about his public image. And also, he doesn’t seem to care where he makes money from, and I’ve got a perfect example for you that’ll