Intermediary?? Or Interferiary?

While the Internet has done an amazing job of changing how we live, work and play, there is an underbelly of humanity that crops up in a lot of places. One of the most attractive arenas is in the world of finance, where people who see dollar signs in their heads when they smell money, regardless of whether they have the training, knowledge, skills and personal attributes such as honesty, transparency, truthfulness and client-focused dedication to serving their connections.

I believe the clear majority of humanity on the Internet are good people, in my opinion, but the sheer volume of people showing up trying to lie, cheat, steal and feel entitled to unearned rewards for putting two principals together while being loosely connected through a daisy chain, rightfully show themselves to be nothing more than interferiaries, rather than intermediaries.

What is an Interferiary?

• Someone who claims to be “direct” to either a buyer or seller of financial instruments that are used at the highest banking levels in the world of high-finance. After a little digging, it turns out almost 100% of the time there is no genuine connection.

• A person who inserts themselves between the conversation that is required between principal parties, blocking access unless a fee pay agreement is signed and in place. This is one of the biggest jokes around. How can anyone insist on a fee agreement when there is no deal that has been legitimately discussed and negotiated between the principals? That’s like interviewing for a job, and the first question in the interview is “how much do I make?”

• Someone claims to be a principal owner of an asset, only to discover in the investigative process that this person is not who he or she claims to be. Not only is this interference, it is outright illegal misrepresentation, and when documented can be cause for blacklisting and possible arrest. The list goes on and on, and I’m sure people who have had their share of ‘interferiaries’ bring them so-called deals will chime in. I can’t wait to read them.

After 10 years in working in this industry, pretty much every possible illegitimate misrepresentation has crossed my desk from all over the world. Learning how to discern reality

from illusion is a learned skill-set. If your intention is to truly be an effective intermediary, the way to succeed is to introduce, then get the hell out of the way so the principal parties (if there are any) can engage. Fear of losing a commission is self-fulfilling when interference in the smooth open communication between the actual parties blocks the essential path to a deal.

If the deal is real (i.e. there are two genuine parties wanting to do business who are ready, willing and able), as a party to the introduction you would only be left out if you cause grief in the engagement.