// INTERACTIVE SIMULATION — MODULE 04

The Wire Transfer Decision

You are the CFO of Meridian Financial Group. You manage $2.3B in daily transaction volume. You're in a board budget review when your phone buzzes. An email from your CFO's address — or is it?

// THE SITUATION
You're mid-way through a Q3 budget meeting when your phone buzzes. The email is from l.rodriguez@meridian-group.com — slightly different from the CFO's usual domain, @meridianfg.com. The subject line reads: "URGENT: Emergency wire to new vendor — $340K — need by 2pm."

You and Lucia Rodriguez have worked together for 8 years. You know her writing style. The email reads like her — brief, direct, action-oriented. She's requesting a $340,000 wire to a new vendor account for what she describes as a "time-sensitive acquisition." She says she's in meetings all day and can't talk — but the urgency of the request is clear. Money needs to move by 2pm.

Your treasury team normally requires dual approval and a 48-hour notice for wires above $100K. This request is bypassing all of that. What do you do?
// DECISION POINT
What is your first action?
A
Process the wire immediately. It's Lucia — you recognize her writing style and the urgency makes sense. The 2pm deadline is real, and this is a known business need. Skip the normal process just this once.
B
Reply to verify. Send a quick reply asking Lucia to confirm the wire details. Her writing style matches, so you're fairly confident, but a quick confirmation is standard practice.
C
Stop everything. Call Lucia directly on her known number (from your CRM, not the email) to verify before processing. The domain mismatch is a signal. The bypassing of dual-approval is a signal. This needs verification before any money moves.
D
Forward to a colleague to get a second opinion. You want another set of eyes on this before you act. Forward the email and ask if this looks right.