Chapter 435 The shocking effect of 5000 million cash

Chapter 435 The shocking effect of 5000 million cash

Chapter 435 The shocking effect of 5000 million cash
Fang Xianming asked tentatively: "Mr. Yang, are we going to acquire Hang Seng Bank?"

"It's a bit difficult." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "I personally still believe that the Hong Kong government will not let Hang Seng go bankrupt. The impact will be too great, so I will invest first and get some shares first."

In fact, there is another more important point, that is the issue of unity among Chinese investors. In this era, we cannot say that all Chinese investors are friends, but there are relatively few mortal enemies, because the enemy should be British investors, and everyone cares about their own reputation.

Even if he could save Hang Seng and then gain management rights, he would be excluded by the Chinese capital community in Hong Kong, who would think that they were taking advantage of the opportunity to take over, especially since Ho Sin Hang himself had a very good reputation in Hong Kong.

Therefore, Hang Seng cannot save itself. The cost is very high, but it is difficult to gain control. It is totally not worth the loss, which is a bit contradictory.

However, if it is just an investment, then there is no big problem. Even He Shanheng may not think that he is taking advantage of your misfortune. After all, with such a high risk and no reward, who would be willing to help you?

Fang Xianming said: "Okay."

Yang Wendong added: "Also, try to keep a low profile and don't let the He family know to avoid causing trouble. I am also preparing to increase my capital and invest in Hang Seng separately, and we will proceed with both at the same time."

"Yes." Fang Xianming and Zheng Zhijie agreed.

In the following days, the run on Hang Seng Bank continued. Ho Sin Hang, relying on his connections in Hong Kong, managed to get back some of the loans from many previous customers and returned them to the depositors.
"Mr. He." An assistant came over and said, "The funds are insufficient again. More and more people are coming to withdraw money. Now the rumors about us are getting more and more outrageous. There are even rumors that you are planning to flee Hong Kong."

"Once a bank run happens, it really has nothing to do with bank operations," said He Shanheng with a sigh.

The assistant said, "Mr. He, you are already very impressive for being able to get back some of the funds from so many borrowers. If it were an ordinary bank, I'm afraid it would have collapsed long ago."

The Hang Seng Bank is not the only bank that is being run on in Hong Kong. Several other smaller banks have already gone bankrupt. However, the Hong Kong government has been very slow to act, and has only said that it will give an explanation to depositors. This reaction has made ordinary people even more panicked, and more and more people have come to the banks to withdraw their money.

He Shanheng sighed and said, "But it's still not enough. Contact Yang Wendong and tell him that I agree to his conditions."

"Are you really going to let Mr. Yang invest so much?" the assistant asked, "Besides, 5000 million Hong Kong dollars may not be of much use right now."

"What I want is not 5000 million Hong Kong dollars, but Yang Wendong's reputation." Ho Sin Hang said: "Although Yang Wendong is unwilling to guarantee my Hang Seng Bank, his investment may help us persuade many high-saving depositors to give up withdrawing their money.

And even if it doesn't work, he has invested so much money, it's impossible for him to watch us go bankrupt. With his ability, there may be other ways to help us out of the difficulties. "

"Okay." The assistant agreed quickly.

That afternoon, after receiving the news, Yang Wendong immediately brought Fang Xianming and Zheng Zhijie to the headquarters of Hang Seng Bank.

He Shanheng also got straight to the point and said, "Mr. Yang, time is urgent now, and I won't say any more polite words. I can agree to your investment, but I also hope that we can hold a press conference together;

I don’t need you to promise to guarantee Hang Seng Bank’s deposits, but I hope you can express your confidence in Hang Seng Bank.”

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and agreed.

Investing in the company yourself is actually a kind of confidence.

Ho Sin Hang added, "The press conference will be held at the head office. I will invite reporters from Hong Kong to come. As for Mr. Yang, I need your people to bring in a large amount of cash in front of the reporters."

"Cash? I don't have that much." Yang Wendong was stunned and said.

Although it is not the Internet age yet, large transactions are still done with checks. It is not difficult to ask Yang Wendong to produce a check for 5000 million Hong Kong dollars, and HSBC Bank will have to issue it to him; but cash? 5000 million is too much.

He Shanheng said with a smile: "Don't worry about that, Mr. Yang. I have already prepared the cash."

"You have so much cash?" Yang Wendong was also a little unconvinced.

Having 5000 million in an account and having 5000 million in cash in reality are two different things. It is rumored that Lao Li’s son was kidnapped in his previous life and demanded 20 billion in cash, but Lao Li also made it clear that all the banks in Hong Kong only have billion in total in the short term.

Because most bank transactions are digital, the actual amount of cash that needs to be prepared is only a fraction of the actual data. This is one of the reasons why banks find it difficult to cope when there is a run.

He Shanheng said: "No, but I can make the world think I have it, as long as the depositors can see the appearance."

"Haha, He Sheng is awesome." Yang Wendong also gave a thumbs up.

Introducing one's own funds is a small matter. A mere 5000 million is not actually enough to cause a bank run. But if the momentum for one's own investment is bigger, perhaps it will make many people stop withdrawing money.

And once the run fades away, things will return to normal.

However, this is also a gamble. If successful, the company will get rid of the difficulties. If it fails, it will fall into the previous situation again. In the end, it will probably be acquired by HSBC.

Time was running out. After obtaining Yang Wendong's consent, Ho Sin Hang immediately arranged for people to spread the news. Yang Wendong asked the Hong Kong Chinese Daily, Oriental Daily and Ming Pao to publicize the matter and praised Hang Seng in every way, in an attempt to persuade as many people as possible to reduce their withdrawals. Even if they just wait and see, as long as fewer people withdraw money and it reaches a critical point, they may be able to get through it.

The next morning, the press conference was held as scheduled. Under the attention of various media, Yang Wendong and He Shanheng signed the agreement and shook hands solemnly. Many reporters took photos continuously.

Many people around who were originally planning to withdraw money also slowed down. They were also hesitant. After all, if they took out the money now, they could only get back the principal, but all the interest would be gone. Many people who had made regular deposits for several years suffered heavy losses.

"Mr. Yang, by investing in this company, are you guaranteeing the deposits of the depositors of Hang Seng Bank?"

"Mr. Yang, what do you think about the bank run in Hong Kong today?" Yang Wendong said with a faint smile when facing the reporter's interview: "I believe that Hong Kong's economy will get out of difficulties in the future. Many banks in Hong Kong are operating normally. It is just because there are too many panic speeches in the market that led to the bank run today. I hope everyone can be more rational. Too much withdrawal will only cause heavy losses."

All his speeches were empty and without any substantial content. It was impossible for him to cover for Hang Seng Bank because he was not sure whether he could really save the bank. Once he said it, he would have to fulfill the corresponding responsibilities and his weaknesses might also be discovered by his competitors.

However, he did not deny some issues. As long as he did not deny them, they might become rumors. Sometimes, rumors also have benefits. The key lies in how they are used.

Soon, large amounts of cash, packed in plastic storage boxes, were brought in one by one, forming a long line that stunned the surrounding reporters and depositors.

"Use our storage boxes? He Shanheng is really smart." Yang Wendong whispered to the people around him.

The storage box is not big, so it will take a lot of boxes to store 5000 million Hong Kong dollars in cash. This will make people feel that Hang Seng Bank still has a lot of funds. Not many people know how big 5000 million Hong Kong dollars is.

And most importantly, the storage box is transparent, and the cash inside can be seen from all angles. Unlike a wooden box, even if it is opened, who knows if there will be other things under the cash on the surface?

This is similar to the ancient money houses that used silver to protect themselves.

When a large amount of cash was piled up into a small mountain, many reporters came forward to take pictures. Even though they were reporters, they had never seen so much cash piled together. If they took good pictures, they would receive rewards when they returned.

The other depositors were also stunned. They usually felt uneasy and unsafe if they had a few hundred-yuan cash in their hands, but seeing so much in front of them was really dazzling.
On the other side, many people with unusual temperaments were watching everything in front of them. They were large depositors of Hang Seng Bank, usually with deposits ranging from 100,000 to hundreds of thousands or even millions. Now that they were experiencing a bank run, they also wanted to withdraw money, but the interest rates for large depositors were already very high, and withdrawing money now would result in heavy losses.
When everyone was still hesitating, Ho Sin Hang walked up to the top and said in front of the reporters: "Dear reporter friends, please pass on a message for me. All the depositors of my Hang Seng Bank, as long as they continue to deposit, can get an additional 1% interest after the maturity, which is valid for one year."

"Wow~~" There was a lot of noise below and everyone started discussing.

Fang Xianming from Changxing Finance was also surprised and said, "Mr. He is really courageous. With just this 1% interest, in one year, given the scale of Hang Seng Bank, the loss would be at least - million."

"Seven or eight million is also a loss in the future. As long as it can stop more people from running to withdraw money, it will be worth it." Yang Wendong praised: "With the shock of the 5000 million cash on the scene today, we may be able to cope with this run."

In fact, Hang Seng Bank's operations were normal, but it was screwed by some news;

Once depositors' confidence is restored, even if only partially, it will give Ho Sin Hang enough time to continue raising cash, and then there will be a real chance of recovery.

After the press conference, He Shanheng came to Yang Wendong and said with a smile: "Mr. Yang, I still have to thank you for today."

"You're welcome. I'm also a shareholder of Hang Seng now. I'm definitely willing to help if I can." Yang Wendong also said.

In addition to asking him to promise to cover the bottom line, he was also willing to help Hang Seng in other aspects. After all, Ho Sin Hang was a really good person and was helpful to the development of Changxing Group in the early years.
After I acquired shares in Hang Seng, I also needed him to continue to develop Hang Seng Bank. In this way, I would have a small share of the banking business.

“Next, I still hope that Mr. Yang’s media group can say more good things about Hang Seng,” Ho Sin Hang added.

"No problem." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "TVB will also participate appropriately, but it's not good to make these things too obvious. I will ask all media to persuade all bank depositors in Hong Kong to reduce bank runs from the perspective of all banks."

This is also the advantage of having media. When needed, you can immediately complete the group's strategic needs. Otherwise, even if you have abundant financial resources, other media companies may not cooperate with you in an emergency.

Especially TV stations. There are already quite a lot of televisions in Hong Kong, and most of the people who own televisions are rich people, who are also the main group affected by this wave of bank runs.

After the press conference, various media outlets under the control of Changxing Media began to publicize Hong Kong's future economy and the role of banks, while also stating that a run on banks to withdraw money now would only cause heavy losses to ordinary people.

When the mountains of cash appeared in newspapers and on TV, many people really hesitated and turned to wait and see. In particular, Yang Wendong's investment made some people who knew the scale of Changxing Group begin to believe in Hang Seng Bank. After all, in Hong Kong, there were many people working for Yang Wendong. It was rumored that Yang Wendong's net worth had already reached hundreds of millions, which was more than the assets of Hang Seng Bank. If he wanted to save Hang Seng, he would definitely be able to do so.

The next day, Yang Wendong also came to Hang Seng Bank. This matter was the most important at the moment. With an investment of 5000 million Hong Kong dollars, Yang Wendong did not dare to be careless.

"Mr. Yang." After seeing Yang Wendong, He Shanheng said with a smile on his face: "We have roughly counted the number of people withdrawing money now, and it has been reduced by about half. According to this estimate, it is estimated that 2000 million Hong Kong dollars will be withdrawn every day."

"2000 million is not a small amount." Yang Wendong asked, "Then my 5000 million can only last for less than 3 days, right?"

The scary thing about a bank run is that it sucks all the blood out of a bank like a high-pressure pump. In this case, no matter how healthy the person is, his body will collapse immediately.

He Shanheng said with a smile: "It is very good to be able to last for three days. I am also recovering funds or borrowing from other financial institutions, so I can also raise funds.

As long as my fund-raising speed exceeds the bank run speed, the bank run will slowly slow down. One reason is that the people who want to withdraw money have already withdrawn it. The other reason is that as time goes by, the depositors will be more hesitant to see that the bank can persist in giving money. It is enough to do this. "

"This is also good news." Yang Wendong nodded. It seemed that he had helped a lot. Then he said, "Mr. He, I came here today to tell you one more thing. My people have confirmed that someone is maliciously spreading news that is unfavorable to Chinese banks in Hong Kong."

"I know. I also have two suspects, but I'm not sure which one they are." He Shanheng said, "One is a British bank. You know this without me having to explain it. The other one could be the Chase Bank in the United States."

"Chase Bank?" Yang Wendong said, "I've heard of this bank too. They have quite a bit of business in Hong Kong."

Hong Kong does not only have British and Chinese banks. There is also some capital from other countries, such as the United States and Japan. The scale of these banks in Hong Kong is not large, but the headquarters behind them are very powerful.

Ho Sin Hang said: "A few years ago, Chase Bank wanted to enter Hong Kong and told me that it wanted to acquire Hang Seng, but I didn't agree. Just a few days after the bank run this time, people from Chase came again. I don't believe that such a coincidence would happen."

PS: Ask for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)