SHIAWASE- James Mancuso did not last long. He entered Shiawase board in
System Failure and is now dead.
- There are a lot of reflexion and interesting things on corporate culture, and the impact of leonization. On the other hand, I'm not sure how all this material could be used considering the limited interraction the average runners has with security guards, M. Johnson and the occasional exfiltration target. But maybe someone somewhere will manage to play a great campaign that would give the opportunity to discover the ins and outs of Shiwase culture and politics.
- As said above, Shiawase is not a Keiretsu. It is an integral part of the Keiretsu definition that there is no core company, especially one that doesn't produce anything or offer any services.
- Shiawase has its division headquarters really spread all over the globe, unlike most other corps. Shiawase Security Services is headquartered in Talinn, Estonia. This may have to do with "the stealth bombers stationned at the Elva airbase in Estonia" inherited from Fuchi, from
Shadows of Europe.
WUXING- The story on how Japanacorps were forced to defend Wuxing right to extraterritoriality was already known, but it's nonetheless a good proof that AAA megacorps sometimes look further than conquering market shares.
- The PPG timeline says Wu Lung-Wei formed the PPG as early as 2057. However, if you read
Blood in the Boardroom, the PPG wasn't more than an informal group. The official founding did not happen before Yamatetsu joined in 2059.
- Wuxing already was already big in the financial sector before taking over the MIB (rating 8, and four major subsidiaries out of fourteen in
Corporate Download). So, I'd think there would already have conbflituous relationships with at least HKB and S-K when they were just allied with the MIB.
- According to the Aztechnology chapter, Aztechnology and its AA subsidiary Free Transit Cartage are members of the PPG. There are no more details, thought I can imagine the PPG granting membership to only one subsidiary as a test.
- Wuxing owns AA Entertainment, an Addis Abeba entertainment. Now what is the Ethopian entertainment industtry like ?
- The "other old man of the board", James Harper-Smythe, would be 43 years old in 2072, since he was 32 in
Corporate Download.
CHALMERS & COLE- Founded in 2065, A in 2067, AA by 2072, with core business being
high-risk investment and
emerging markets finance. And I thought stability was the main condition to obtain extraterritoriality... I don't think C&C had to be a AA to make the idea interesting anyway.
FRANKFURTER BANKVEREIN- Spain economy took a hit with the Second Crash, and Meridional and Sol Media are said to be multinationals. "Multinationals" usually means "not AA", a rating they had in
Shadows of Europe.
- It is explained the Corporate Court abolished regulations preventing banks from owning non-financial companies ("owning" in this case, meaning more than half the shares).
- Hey, Brokerage X got out of business.
LONE STAR- Reality Inc owns Cavalier Arms and some shares in Lone Star. A new mystery corp with a focus on the CAS ?
- If Carl Walsh if the head of Lone Star police in Denver's CAS sector, it probably means Knight Errant lost the contract at some point (see
Shadows of North America, page 79). Maybe Ghostwalker no longer trusted Ares after Nadja Daviar disappeared.
- The security service providers top ten includes none of the three corps said to make the second tier of the industry, right behind LSSS and KE, in
Vice (Wolverine, Centurion and Eagle Security).
- Najima Securities is listed as one of Renraku security service provider. That subsidiary was first named in
Corporate Download with no indication regarding it business. The plural "securities" in a company name refers a lot more often to the "fungible, negotiable instrument representing financial value" (as in SEC, Securities & Exchange Commission) than to protection service. Not a strict rule though. And I hve to admit I myself listed Najima as a security business in the corporate index.
- Tyr and Sternchutz are not listed under parent company Maersk and FBA, while all the other corps are (Ares for KE, and so on). Depending on your opinion on that topic, Esprit should also be listed as an Aztechnology subsidiary
- According to the French background, the national police is still a public service, not an Esprit contracted force as the list would suggest.
- The HKB ownership of small fishes ScotSecure, Midland Guards, as well as London Security, Risk Minimizers was less public by the time of
London Sourcebook. Risk Protection Factors Inc. was HKB most prominent subsidiary in the security business, and the name was much cooler (and I really liked the idea of the British Establishment bodyguards outfit owned by a London City insurance company).
MAERSK- As someone pointed above, Maersk owns "Deusche Lufthansa", Saeder-Krupp owns the "Lufthansa Group"
- The "war-ruined" Baltic ?
- This part has an odd feeling, with a lot of past plots, rather than plot seeds for the future.
MANADYNE- It is nowhere explained that Mangadyne was headquartered in Hong Kong and was part of the PPG, according to
Corporate Download. So Cale Winters probably knew personnally Wu Lung-Wei before Wuxing decided to take over Manadyne.
- Since Manadyne use Greek creature nomenclature, I gues it should read "Cereberus" instead of "Cerebrus"
MONOBE- Herstal is listed as a major divisions, but the text refer to Fabrique Nationale. For those who wouldn't known, this is the same corp, the "Fabrique Nationale de Herstal" or FN Herstal.
- Weapons World was a Monobe subsidiary in
Corporate Shadowfiles. In Corporate Download, it was a subsidiary of Ares Arms. Monobe got them back.
- I invented Cryptec, the Société Suisse Technique and Mapen Technologies when working on
Shadows of Asia. There was no room for more than throwing names out. I intended the Société Suisse Technique to be an engineering and construction company specialized in security issue (building bunkers and manufacturing safebox) and the parent company of Cryptec (cryptology software) and FN Herstal. Mapen Technologies was to be a MapQuest or Google Earth/Google Maps type business. The "change" on the Société Suisse Technique is the kind of things that happen all the time in SR development, though we're rarely told when it happens.
PROTEUS- For those who do not know, the 2063 events are part of the German campaign Shockwellen. A summary in english is available for free under the title
Shockwaves. In the end, the Corporate Court gave the Prometheus Foundation control of Proteus, but several AAA and AA received seats on the foundation own board.
- The arkobloks themselves are rated as at least A companies due to their size, while A rating never had anything to do with size, only with the fact of having significant business in at least two countries. Which is a difficult achievement when your purpose is to keep you activities contained into a single building. But I think each arkoblok must have logistical branches in nearby countries. However, I really don't think a single building should obtain AA rating (well, if Chalmers & Cole got it, on the other hand...).
UNIVERSAL OMNITECH- The Shiawase takeover attempt against UO was a one-liner in
Corporate Download that IMO could or should have been one of the major corporate plot of the early 2060ies (especially in Seattle area), and was overlooked by nearly everyone.
ZETA-IMPCHEM- In
London Sourcebook, Zeta-ImpChem owned Hoechst AG, who also became a member company of the AG Chemie consortium in
Germany Sourcebook. German-only books retconned the name into Hoechst-Aventis after Rhône-Poulenc and Hoechst merged as Aventis in 1999, a name that was also used in
Shadows of Europe. And now
Corporate Guide retconned for the third time as Sanofi-Aventis, since Sanofi-Synthelabo took Aventis over in 2004.
I would actually expect SK to own Dassault or Esprit, or possibly Both. Or One of those to be a AA corp.