Chapter 437: A Great Victory in the Financial War
Chapter 437: A Great Victory in the Financial War
"What kind of foreign cooperation?" Ross asked with great interest.
If you want to expand the market in Hong Kong or any overseas place, the best way is to cooperate with local giants. This way, you can not only obtain large projects yourself, but also serve as a model for others to see and gain opportunities for development.
However, such large-scale cooperation is generally difficult because most of the local corporate giants and local banking giants have been cooperating for a long time and their internal interests are intertwined, so it is difficult for external banks to participate.
But Yang Wendong is different. He is a new force that has emerged in Hong Kong in the past decade. Although he has also cooperated a lot with local banks, relatively speaking, he is definitely more suitable to cooperate with overseas banks. In addition, Changxing Group's products are very popular overseas. Citibank is also very clear about this. It is absolutely a very high-quality cooperation partner.
Yang Wendong said: "I can promise that in the next three years, I will borrow no less than 1000 million US dollars from Citibank with collateral."
When the Hong Kong economic crisis broke out, he would need a lot of funds to buy at the bottom, so he would have to borrow money. Now this could become a bargaining chip; because for any bank, low-risk loans are the resources they dream of.
"1000 million US dollars." After hearing this, Ross was very excited and asked, "What do you want me to do?"
Yang Wendong smiled and said, “It’s very simple. We will go to the Hang Seng Bank headquarters together. A reporter will take a photo of us and the chairman of Hang Seng Bank. We don’t need to worry about the rest.
After that, don’t accept interviews. If you are pestered by reporters, just say you have nothing to say. In short, don’t admit or deny it.”
"There's always a time limit, right?" Ross asked.
Yang Wendong said: "Let's limit it to one month."
If the problems of Hang Seng Bank are not resolved within a month, then there is no hope for it. In fact, a bank run is like cancer. If it cannot be suppressed with lightning speed in the early stages, then there will be no hope later. It will usually only take a week or two, and you just have to get through it.
"Okay, when do we leave?" Ross asked.
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Now we can."
The two soon arrived at the headquarters of Hang Seng Bank. As planned, Ho Sin Hang brought a number of Hang Seng Bank's senior executives to the entrance of the building to greet them. Naturally, there were also many reporters around, taking pictures of everyone.
"Who is this foreign guy? He is accompanied by Yang Wendong and He Shanheng comes out to greet him personally?"
"Yes, it seems that his status is very special. Ho Sin Hang is too respectful. His smile is like seeing the Governor of Hong Kong."
"This is Ross, the head of Citibank in Hong Kong. I've met him before, but he rarely appears in public."
"Citibank? What are you doing here at Hang Seng? Are you going to acquire it or invest in it?"
"Whatever it is, this is big news."
Reporters were discussing with each other that the run on Hang Seng Bank, Bank of East Asia and other Chinese banks had become the biggest news in Hong Kong;
Hang Seng Bank is the largest, and now Yang Wendong has joined, which has brought unknown variables. Now the head of Citibank has also come, which must be even bigger news.
Ross was just going through the motions, but Ho Sin Hang was naturally very respectful and took Ross to visit the headquarters of Hang Seng Bank. The two of them even laughed and talked about future cooperation.
Not all banks are competitors. Many banks will form a banking group to invest in a large project in order to avoid risks.
An hour later, Ross left Hang Seng Bank under the escort of Yang Wendong and Ho Shanheng. This scene was still photographed by reporters.
Back on the top floor of Hang Seng Bank, Yang Wendong made a phone call. After hanging up, he smiled and said to Ho Sin Hang, "Mr. Ho, several newspapers in Hong Kong have already published an expedited edition of the newspaper regarding this matter. Many people will be able to see it this evening.
By tomorrow, more than half of the Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong will publish this story, and by noon tomorrow, half of the people in Hong Kong who care about Hang Seng Bank will think that Citibank is preparing to acquire or buy a stake in Hang Seng Bank.
"Awesome, I admire you." He Shanheng praised, "I never thought that controlling the media would give you such power. I always thought that the media was just about making some advertising money."
"Making money from advertising? It's just the most insignificant function of the media." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "But ordinary media companies, under normal operation, can only make this kind of money.
If you want to play the biggest role, you still have to cooperate with big capital. "
The weapon of media can only exert its maximum power when it is in the hands of special people. Just like an ordinary firearm, its lethality is very limited in the hands of ordinary people, but in the hands of professionals, its power can be increased dozens of times.
He Shanheng also said: "According to the data this morning, the number of people coming to withdraw money is slightly less than yesterday. Although half a day cannot prove anything, there is a trend of improvement.
With today’s incident, as long as the media publicizes it a bit more, I’m sure I can get through it.”
"Mr. He, your 1% interest increase is expected to have a great effect." Yang Wendong added, "But even if we get through this, Hang Seng Bank will suffer a huge loss."
After a run, no bank can come out unscathed. The Liao Chong Hing Bank actually still exists, and the descendants of the Liao family are still running it, but it has basically fallen to a size smaller than a silver bank.
"The estimated loss is 30 to 40 million yuan, and the profit for a year or even more than a year is gone." He Shanheng sighed and said, "Compared with Guangdong Trust, I am much better off."
Yang Wendong asked again: "Mr. He, as long as we survive the bank run, many people who withdrew money in the early stage will lose their interest. You can also make a lot of money here, right?"
Bank runs are a double-edged sword for depositors and banks. Depositors lose interest, not to mention the banks.
He Shanheng shook his head and said, "I did save their interest, but they took away more than 100 million yuan, all of which I borrowed at high interest or collected in advance from other clients. The interest I paid was actually higher."
"That's true." Yang Wendong nodded, and then said: "However, Hang Seng Bank only lost funds this time, and did not lose branches or other assets. The foundation is still there. As long as we survive this time, it will not be difficult to recover in the future;
And with this bank run, ordinary people will only trust Hang Seng Bank more.”
"Well, I hope so." He Shanheng could only say helplessly,
During this period, he could hardly sleep every night. If he had not had any health problems, he would probably have been as direct as Liao Baoshan.
Yang Wendong added: "We can't relax right now. Although we have control over the media, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. Once a rumor that is harmful to Hang Seng spreads, it will spread faster than ten pieces of beneficial news."
People generally pay more attention to negative news, so the Internet in the past was full of hostility, and Douyin was filled with a lot of unpleasant news. This is one of the fundamental reasons why it is easy to spread rumors but difficult to explain them.
"Yes." He Shanheng said, "I'll leave this matter to Yang Sheng. When things return to normal, I will definitely give Changxing Media generous advertising fees."
"Okay." Yang Wendong smiled. This was what he should do.
Even if you are a shareholder, if you use your own resources to help the joint venture, the joint venture should naturally pay.
HSBC headquarters, Hong Kong.
Sanders looked at the newspaper he had just bought, frowned and said, "Citibank is actually involved. Shen Bi, what do you think?"
The middle-aged man named Shen Bi said: "Citibank is not well-known among ordinary people in Hong Kong, but many people in the middle class still know about it. Whether this is true or false, it will make many rich people stop withdrawing money.
In this way, Hang Seng Bank's financial pressure will be reduced sharply. With the amount of cash they have now, they will probably be able to survive the situation. With the large-scale media publicity, the number of people running to withdraw money will decrease.
Unless we add more fuel to the fire.”
"What fire?" asked Sanders.
Shen Bi said: "Our bank has refused to provide foreign exchange services to Hang Seng Bank because Hang Seng Bank has funding problems."
"If that happens, we will be the ones to suffer." Sanders frowned and said, "If we fail, we will become enemies that all Chinese banks in Hong Kong will reject. They are more likely to seek cooperation with Standard Chartered or even Citibank. Even if they cannot do without us in the short term, they will do it step by step.
Even if we succeed, it will be difficult for us to acquire Hang Seng, as the Hong Kong government will probably allow Standard Chartered to do the same."
There are some things that everyone knows about, but as long as there is no hard evidence and the parties involved do not step forward to intervene personally, even if others know the truth, they will not express it.
But if they get involved themselves, that’s another matter. HSBC is half a central bank. If they get involved themselves and then make an acquisition, it would be too ugly.
Shen Bi said: "This is the only way at the moment. Yang Wendong has personally come out to support us. We are roughly aware of his financial strength. Now Citibank may also come out.
We can only stand behind and use some rumors, but that won't work. Now Yang Wendong directly refuses all interviews just to prevent this trick. "I didn't expect that after planning for so long, I was defeated by the media." Sanders frowned and said, "It seems that Yang Wendong knew the influence of Chinese newspapers when he started his business in the early days;
From newspapers to radio stations to television stations and even movies, all propaganda channels are largely controlled by him. "
"Yes, Yang Wendong is indeed incredibly powerful." Shen Bi paused and said, "In fact, there is another way. Since Yang Wendong is so powerful, why should we become his opponent?"
"What do you mean? You want to persuade Yang Wendong to sell out Hengsheng?" Sanders asked in surprise, "Do you think this is possible?"
Shen Bi said: "It's indeed unlikely, but I want to give it a try. He is also a businessman, and in the end it's all for profit."
"Okay, then you can go talk to him in the name of HSBC." Sanders added, "But all words can only be used to test the waters, never express your views directly."
"I understand." Shen Bi agreed.
"Shen Bi?" Yang Wendong was quite surprised when he heard the name. He never expected that the future HSBC boss would come to find him.
Fang Xianming said, "Yes, Shen Bi is the head of HSBC's credit business. Would you like to meet him?"
Although he is the head of credit at HSBC, Yang Wendong is also one of the top businessman in Hong Kong. If the boss of HSBC comes, he will definitely meet him, but as for a business manager, it depends on whether the boss is willing.
"Then let him in." Yang Wendong said. He had to give some face to the future HSBC boss.
Although it is possible that he missed the position of HSBC's president because of his influence, capable people will basically not fall into decline. The fact that HSBC was able to become one of the top ten banks in the world in the 21st century was mainly due to a series of operations during Shen Bi's tenure.
Soon, a white guy came in and said, "Hello, Mr. Yang, I am Shen Bi, the deputy general manager of HSBC."
"Mr. Shen Bi, please take a seat." Yang Wendong waved his hand and said, "I wonder why Mr. Shen Bi came to see me?"
Shen Bi smiled and said, "I heard that Yang Sheng has become a major shareholder of Hengsheng. I have a cooperation proposal here that can ensure that all three of us can make a profit. Please consider it, Mr. Yang."
"Tell me about it." Yang Wendong asked without changing his expression.
Shen Bi said: "Hang Seng Bank has developed rapidly in recent years, but Mr. Yang should also know that its development has basically reached its limit. After all, Hong Kong is so small, and it is very difficult to expand overseas markets.
So my proposal is that HSBC acquires Hang Seng, and then we can use the strength of both companies to expand overseas together.”
"I don't think all three parties will benefit from this proposal." Yang Wendong said with a faint smile.
HSBC's purpose is actually to eliminate a threat so that it can have a stable rear base in Hong Kong and expand its international market with peace of mind.
Although Hong Kong is not big, its development speed in the next few decades is rare in the world. As the largest bank in Hong Kong, it also made huge profits from it. Coupled with Shen Bi's ability, it finally succeeded.
Shen Bi smiled faintly and said, "Mr. Yang, if you think this is not a good idea, then I, HSBC, can buy your shares in Hang Seng at a premium."
"Mr. Shen Bi, do you think I invested in a stock just to cash out and make some money?" Yang Wendong said again: "You should talk to He Shanheng about this matter. He is the largest shareholder and operator. If he is willing, I will naturally agree."
Although there was a slight conflict with HSBC this time, no one made it public. Yang Wendong naturally would not be too disrespectful and just kicked the ball away.
"Okay, I also hope that Mr. Yang can seriously consider it. Price is definitely not a problem." Shen Bi followed.
After a while, Shen Bi left, and Yang Wendong also asked He Shanheng to come out and told him what happened.
"My guess was right. HSBC is behind this bank run," said Ho Sin Hang with emotion.
"That's normal. Hang Seng's performance in recent years has been so good that HSBC cannot compete with it, so naturally it has to resort to some tricks," said Yang Wendong.
Business is like a battlefield. Different industries are not so bad, but in the same industry, once there is a threat, it will inevitably be a battle of life and death. In this regard, Internet giants in the past fought to the death in order to compete for traffic and user time, even giant companies in different businesses
Of course, many business wars in reality involve pulling out network cables, turning off power switches, pouring boiling water on money trees, big guys personally arranging fights, etc., or not talking about their own technology and quality at their own press conferences, and specifically dissing competitors.
He Shanheng said with a smile: "I really have to thank Mr. Yang for his help this time, otherwise, Hengsheng really couldn't bear it."
"You're welcome. I'm also a shareholder of Hang Seng Bank, so naturally I should do something." Yang Wendong paused and said, "But this is also a lesson. Hang Seng Bank's risk management has never been a problem before, but it was affected by other banks and almost went bankrupt. We must have a response plan in the future."
"Mr. Yang, what's your idea?" He Shanheng thought for a moment and asked, "This kind of thing doesn't seem easy to handle. The bank can't always maintain a high cash flow, right?"
"I can't do anything about this." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "I feel the only way is to develop overseas markets. As long as the business is sufficient, if one place is squeezed, other places can also mobilize funds to come."
"Develop overseas markets." He Shanheng said: "I have also considered it, but I don't know how to start. It is also very difficult to do banking overseas."
"Indeed, I can't help you much in this regard." Yang Wendong added: "But you can try it in Singapore first. The population there is mainly Chinese, and the government also allows overseas banks to invest."
"Singapore? Okay, I'll go look into it." He Shanheng nodded.
Yang Wendong said again: "Mr. He, there is one more thing I think I need to remind you of."
"What's the matter?" He Shanheng asked.
Yang Wendong said: "We all know that there are people behind the Hang Seng Bank incident. The fundamental reason is that the Chinese banks headed by Hang Seng Bank have affected the interests of the British banking consortium from political groups.
Now that the British Hong Kong government controls Hong Kong, they will never allow some of Hong Kong's core economic and financial rights to be controlled by Chinese capital. Mr. Ho should understand what I mean, right? "
"I understand." He Shanheng nodded and said, "The prerequisite for any enterprise to become big is to have the support of the government behind it."
Yang Wendong nodded and said, "So, for the time being, we cannot be too aggressive in our development in Hong Kong."
In the following days, fewer and fewer people came to Hang Seng Bank to withdraw money, and the bank's funds were allocated more and more smoothly. The bank run crisis was finally over.
In this financial war, Hang Seng and Yang Wendong can be said to have won a great victory.
PS: Ask for monthly ticket
To explain, many people think that if Hang Seng Bank is run on, only HSBC can save it. But in reality, when Hang Seng Bank was run on, there were two options. One was HSBC's acquisition, and the other was Chase Manhattan Bank's acquisition. Although the big American banks did not have much business in Hong Kong at that time, many people in the middle class and above still knew the strength of American banks.
The main force of bank runs are these people. As long as they ease up, the bank funds can support about 7 to 14 days (this is the summary data of bank runs in the history of commercial banks), and the scale of the run will decrease (those who are determined to withdraw money have taken it, and those who are hesitant are waiting and watching). With the help of some policies, many people will even deposit the money back (this depends on the ability of the bank and its courage to cut off its arms).
Including the subsequent bank run on Far Eastern Bank (owned by Qiu Degen, the future chairman of Asia Television), which was also quelled by foreign banks after they acquired shares in it. At that time, all Chinese banks were run, but Hang Seng Bank was the most famous, which was acquired by HSBC.
There will be a separate chapter later to explain the recent debate on whether to acquire Hang Seng.
(End of this chapter)