Sure, I’ll take a trip to Brazil!

No problem at all!

Sounds pretty decent, doesn’t it?

Well, this “Malicious Compliance” story from Reddit has a happy ending that involves that South American nation and we think you’re gonna get a kick out of it.

Check out what happened!

Thanks for the Carnival vacation!

“Many, many years ago, I worked as a controller in a financial institution.

The role is essentially to engage with traders about their trading, ensure they are on top of their positions, provide evidence they are priced correctly, report profit and loss (P&L), that sort of thing.

Surprises are not good in this business.

A good controller is an asset to a trader, because they don’t have to worry about surprises: they can start each day knowing their positions are correct, their P&L is accurate, and they can take each day on its own merit.

Some of the products that they trade are quite complex. For example, buying ‘sugar futures’ is a great idea if you think the future value will rise, but at some point, you need to take delivery of those futures.

If the contract specifies a building that has no roof, and it is during the rainy season in that location, the physical sugar you purchased becomes worthless in a real hurry. Other products have country specific rules, for example, requiring you to physically present yourself to take delivery.

There was a problem.

My emerging markets trader was obstructed by his desk head from taking a vacation, others were already out, the markets were volatile, and his attention was required at the desk.

Let’s take a trip.

So be bought esoteric Brazilian bonds and sugar futures, requiring control (me!) to ask him to provide evidence, directly necessitating a physical trip to South America to take delivery and to inspect the locations.

This required the company to pay for his trip to Brazil, his stay there, and his transport to cover the locations.

It was “just a coincidence” that this required him to travel to Rio during Carnival!”

Here’s what people had to say about this.

One person talked about a mistake that some traders make.

This reader summed it up.

And one Reddit user was fascinated by this story.

Sounds like a good deal to me!

Nice work!

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.