Margin Call (2011)

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Margin Call (2011)

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Margin Call is a 2011 American independent film, written and directed by J.C. Chandor, and starring Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, and Penn Badgley.

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Margin Call (2011)

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Plot: Junior risk analyst Seth Bregman (Penn Badgley), his more senior colleague Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto), and trading desk head Will Emerson (Paul Bettany) watch as a contracted temporary human resources team, hired by their firm, conducts an unannounced mass layoff action, right on their trading floor, at the start of an otherwise normal business day. One of the fired employees is Peter and Seth's boss, Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci), who heads risk management on the floor. In his exit interview, Dale attempts to tell his now former employer that the firm should look into what he has been working on. The contracted human resources staff have no interest other than his quickly leaving the building. While Dale is being escorted out, he gives Peter a USB memory stick with a project he had been working on, telling him to "be careful" just as he boards the elevator. That night, Sullivan finishes Dale's project and discovers that built-in volatility in the firm's portfolio of mortgage backed securities will soon exceed the historical volatility levels of the firm.

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Because of excessive leverage, if the firm's assets in mortgage-backed securities decrease by 25%, the firm will suffer a loss greater than its market capitalization. He also discovers, that given the normal length of time that the firm holds such securities, this loss must occur. So Sullivan alerts Emerson, who calls floor head Sam Rogers (Kevin Spacey). The employees remain at the firm for a series of meetings with progressively more senior executives, including division head Jared Cohen (Simon Baker), chief risk management officer Sarah Robertson (Demi Moore), and finally CEO John Tuld (Jeremy Irons). Jared's plan is for the firm to quickly sell all of the toxic assets before the market can react to the news of their worthlessness, thereby limiting the firm's exposure, a course favored by Tuld over Rogers's strong objection. Rogers warns Cohen and Tuld that dumping the firm's toxic assets will spread the risk throughout the financial sector and will destroy the firm's relationships with its counterparties. Rogers also warns Cohen that their customers will quickly learn of the firm's plans, once they realize that the firm is only selling (unloading) the toxic mortgage-backed securities but will accept none whatever in exchange for their sale.

–from wikipedia

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Margin Call (2011)

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Margin Call (2011)

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Margin Call (2011)

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Margin Call (2011)

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Margin Call (2011)

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