Chapter 438: Hang Seng Directors and Cinema Expansion

Chapter 438: Hang Seng Directors and Cinema Expansion

Chapter 438: Hang Seng Directors and Cinema Expansion
Time soon came to March 3st, and Hang Seng Bank held its first shareholders' meeting after Yang Wendong acquired shares. The meeting also decided that Hang Seng Bank currently has a total of 1 board seats. Yang Wendong openly holds 9% of the shares and has obtained 28 board seats.

But in fact, including some secretly acquired shares, Yang Wendong's shares are close to 32.3%, which is very close to the 37.7% held by He Shanheng.

Even if he spends a little more money, it is possible to become the real first shareholder. However, the crisis is over now, and it will be easy for the news to leak out if he buys more stocks. There is no need to fall out with the He family at present. It is better to maintain the status quo.

You know, Hang Seng Bank has been controlled by Ho Sin Hang for decades. Even in the past, HSBC was managed by the Ho family after they controlled 51% of the shares, because there was no absolute certainty in forcibly taking over even an experienced bank like HSBC. In addition, HSBC's acquisition of Hang Seng also changed the attitude of many Chinese companies towards HSBC. If this was done by Yang Wendong, there would only be greater public opinion.

If you really want to obtain shares, just wait until Hang Seng goes public in the future and then buy them. As for the actual management rights, we can discuss it after Ho Sin Hang retires.

Historically, descendants of the Ho family did not inherit Hang Seng Bank. Although this may have been due to HSBC reasons, at this moment, it would be best to let Ho Sin Hang continue to run Hang Seng, and even with the support of some resources from Yang Wendong and the capabilities of the existing team, to expand into Southeast Asia and even the world. That would be the way to maximize benefits.

Two days later, the board of directors met and Ho Sin Hang announced that Hang Seng Bank had suffered losses of HK$3957 million in the previous wave of bank runs, which exceeded its net profit in the previous year. At the same time, about 10% of depositors did not deposit the money back after withdrawing it.

It can be said that this wave of losses was heavy.

Everyone on the board of directors also agreed that in the next one to two years, the entire bank must control risks and adopt a prudent strategy, preferring to earn less to ensure that there is sufficient capital on hand, while further reducing some of its high-risk debts.

After the meeting, Ho Sin Hang invited Yang Wendong to have lunch at a restaurant next to Hang Seng Bank.

"Mr. Yang, I didn't ask in detail at the board meeting just now." After pouring tea himself, Ho Sin Hang asked, "Now everyone, please be more casual. I wonder if you have any suggestions for the future development of Hang Seng?
You mentioned investing overseas before, and I checked and found that Singapore is also suitable, but this is only a long-term plan. In the short term, we still need to operate seriously in Hong Kong. "

Many things are not suitable to be brought up at the board meeting, because plans, suggestions, etc. put forward at the formal meeting need to be supported by certain evidence, and then the board representatives will vote to pass them; and if you just want to discuss the future, it is better to change the environment, even if all the board members change the time and position.

Yang Wendong said: "In Hong Kong, I suggest that Hang Seng Bank sell off its various real estate mortgages as soon as possible, and then invest the funds in the industrial field to help many factories raise funds, especially those related to the electronics industry. I am optimistic about their future."

"Mr. Yang, do you mean that the real estate market will continue to fall?" He Shanheng asked.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Yes, the current decline in real estate prices is just the beginning. In addition to the fact that housing prices were previously high, the Chinese banks have been run on, which will inevitably lead to a tightening of the financial industry in the future, which will seriously impact the real estate market."

This wave of bank runs in Hong Kong is not limited to Hang Seng Bank. Many other Chinese banks have also been affected by runs. Many small banks have gone bankrupt and large banks have also been severely damaged.

Although the Hong Kong government intervened later, the fear had already formed and the banks were afraid to lend money at will. Naturally, the first to be affected was the real estate industry. When the real estate industry fell a little, the banks, who were suspicious, would force repayments or increase mortgages, forcing real estate companies to sell properties to reduce the pressure on banks, which ultimately led to a sharper drop in housing prices. Under the vicious cycle, the real estate crisis broke out.

"Well, if there is a problem with the bank, the real estate will inevitably be affected." He Shanheng nodded and said.

Yang Wendong added: "In terms of industry, although financing is also needed, there is basically no leverage, and the factor that determines industrial development is overseas demand, which will basically only become stronger in the future."

"Haha, Mr. Yang's Changxing Industry and Glory Electronics are growing stronger and stronger." He Shanheng said with a smile: "It's a pity that you have become a major shareholder of our bank, which has prevented us from cooperating with each other."

"It's a pity, but Hengsheng can cooperate with some of my suppliers in the future. They are actually quite large in scale." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "And we can cooperate when we both invest in Singapore in the future."

Liu Chongxing opened his own bank to collect deposits for his real estate company, which eventually led to a bank run in 1961, which almost affected other banks. After that, the Hong Kong government amended the banking regulations, prohibiting banks from lending money to shareholders or industries controlled by shareholders.

This is actually a normal operation. Banks in many countries and regions have these basic restrictions. It was only the inaction of the Hong Kong government before that gave Liu Chongxing an opportunity to take advantage of it. In other words, he was bold. Other bankers actually discovered this problem, but those who had a little bit of brains did not dare to do it.
“That’s true. Although we can’t cooperate directly, with Mr. Yang’s name, my Hang Seng will definitely develop better.” He Shanheng said with a smile.

Although the losses from this bank run were considerable, it did not actually damage the foundation of Hang Seng Bank. With the joining of Yang Wendong, the entire bank may have greater potential in the future, especially the development of overseas business, which requires more guidance from companies with overseas business.

Yang Wendong said: "I won't take care of the bank's affairs. I still trust Mr. He on this point. If there is any demand, as long as it is reasonable, I will stand on Mr. He's side."

After acquiring shares in Hang Seng, he naturally did not intend to take over the company immediately. One reason was that mergers between Chinese companies were not popular in that era. The other was that he was not good at finance, and once he got involved, it would affect his other industries.

In the short term, the cost outweighs the gain. I can plan to set up my own bank after my other industries are stabilized.

"Okay, I won't let investors down either." Ho Sin Hang paused and asked, "Mr. Yang, do you think Hang Seng Bank should be listed?"

"It's not a good time yet." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "The entire economy is stagnant now, and we won't be able to raise much money if we go public. It's better to wait for another two or three years for Hang Seng Bank's business to fully recover, and then we can go public."

"Yes, I was a little too impatient." He Shanheng said: "This bank run made me feel that it is safer to go public. Once listed, all financial information will be public, which can avoid sudden bank runs. Depositors are not clear about the situation and are easily instigated."

"Yes, it is better for banks to go public." Yang Wendong nodded.

Most companies in this world are listed companies, which naturally has its advantages. Yang Wendong's industries may also consider listing when the various benefits for time travelers are almost complete.

Once listed, it will be able to better bind the interests of multiple parties, thereby ensuring that the company can develop more smoothly. Otherwise, if a private enterprise is taken over by other governments, not many people will care.

After separating from Ho Sin Hang, Yang Wendong did not return to the company, but went straight home; during this period, the company's many service businesses in Hong Kong were in a contraction phase, and the export business was proceeding normally, so he, as the boss, had a lot of free time.

After returning home, Bai Yushan was holding her child. When she saw Yang Wendong, she asked, "Has the Hang Seng Bank's board of directors meeting ended? So soon?"

"It's nothing serious, so we'll open it quickly." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Hang Seng Bank has just been badly hurt and is now in a strategic contraction phase, so there's naturally nothing to talk about."

When a company is in a period of expansion, there are more things that need to be negotiated. On the other hand, although there will be some problems, the workload is much lower in comparison.

Moreover, as a director, Yang Wendong does not participate in the specific operational details of Hang Seng Bank. He only provides some suggestions and supervision.

He still has more faith in Ho Sin Hang. After all, he was able to build a bank from scratch that could threaten HSBC. Although it is badly damaged now, the team is still there. With a little guidance from him, it will definitely take off in the future.

Bai Yushan smiled and said, "That's right, but if you do this, won't you offend HSBC? Didn't you say before that many industries of Changxing Group still need to rely on HSBC?"

"It's okay if we offended each other. We didn't fall out. We just fought secretly." Yang Wendong said indifferently, "Besides, in business cooperation, interests come first. Even if we offended each other today, we can still cooperate tomorrow as long as there is interest."

People are still realistic. Even though Pao Yue-kong snatched Hutchison Whampoa from Jardine Matheson in his previous life, the two parties cooperated again two years later.

In a small place like Hong Kong, when a business grows, it is bound to have conflicts with other companies. If a conflict leads to a breakup, there is no point in doing business in the future. Even between countries, it is the same. In the first few years, they fight to the death, and in the next few years, they become friends again. Everything is for the sake of profit.

Bai Yushan said: "That's true, but we can't rely entirely on HSBC, what if they cause trouble?"

"Don't worry, I have also established a relationship with Citibank through this." Yang Wendong added, "HSBC is indeed very influential in Hong Kong, but it is far behind internationally. In the future, the core of my business will still be overseas, and I don't need to rely on HSBC anymore."

In the early days of entrepreneurship, although the market was overseas, it was unlikely to rely on overseas financial capital at that time. Therefore, we were more dependent on Hong Kong banks, especially HSBC, a "quasi-central bank" with a large amount of foreign exchange.

But now that the scale of their own industries is growing, it is easy to cooperate with overseas banks. Even those wealthy people who have made achievements in Hong Kong alone are cooperating with overseas banks.

Diversification does not just refer to the company's industries, but involves all aspects. The business needs to be diversified, the production base needs to be diversified, the suppliers need to be diversified, the customers need to be diversified, and finally, financial financing also needs to be diversified.

"That's good." Bai Yushan added, "I saw on TV and in the newspapers that many banks were involved this time, and too many people went to withdraw money."

"There's nothing we can do. The foundation of Chinese banks is still too weak." Yang Wendong said, "Plus, some banks do not take any action in risk management. This time, let's take it as a lesson."

The crisis of Chinese banks this time is actually the result of the Hong Kong government and British banks joining forces to reap the Chinese banks through legal means. If successful, they can reap huge profits after the harvest, and they can also maintain their own market, while also leaving the Chinese capital speechless.

Even though Yang Wendong is quite powerful now, it is impossible for him to save all the banks. After all, if he saves Hang Seng, he will get high returns, but saving others will be useless. If he does too much, he will really offend British capital and the Hong Kong government.

Although he is not very afraid of British capital now, there is no need to offend it for no reason.

In the following days, everyone's affairs developed normally. Changxing Real Estate, the only company in Changxing Group that relied on Chinese banks, had already cashed out and left. The bank run had little impact on Yang Wendong's industry.

The only bad thing is that quite a few people still asked for leave during this period. There were too many people and the matter was too important to them, so the company had no choice but to agree.

"Mr. Yang, in the past half month, we have lost about 5% of our production capacity." Wei Zetao reported, "This is the data after I arranged for some people who did not take leave to work overtime."

"It seems that it is correct for us to build production bases in Taiwan and Singapore." Yang Wendong paused and said, "Those who agree to work overtime will be given more bonuses after this matter is over."

"Okay." Wei Zetao agreed and said, "I've seen some action from the Hong Kong government recently, and I think the run on the bank will soon be over."

"Maybe, but this bank run will cause too much damage to the banks, and the entire Hong Kong economy will be affected in the future." Yang Wendong said with a faint smile.

"Yes." Wei Zetao also nodded and said: "Many people withdrew their money. Although they saved the principal, they lost a lot of interest. In the future, their consumption will inevitably decrease.

After this incident, banks will probably not lend money in the future."

"Yes, but it has little to do with us, we are engaged in exports." Yang Wendong said: "For now, we still need to find a way to continue to restore production capacity, and then gradually transfer the new production capacity to Taiwan. We should also conduct an investigation in Singapore in advance, or communicate with the local government."

"Yes." Wei Zetao agreed.

Time quickly passed and it was mid-March. On the 3th, Fang Xianming and Zou Wenhuai from Changxing Finance came to Yang Wendong’s office.

"Why are you here together?" Yang Wendong asked curiously. The two people's business seemed to have nothing to do with each other.

Fang Xianming said: "Mr. Yang, it is like this. Last month, because we invested in Hang Seng Bank and saved it from bankruptcy, many small banks in Hong Kong have come to me recently, hoping that we can help them.

Originally, according to your request, we did not ask about other banks, but there was a special Far East Bank. The owner of this bank also owns more than 20 cinema chains and said he was willing to sell them to us, so I found Mr. Zou to discuss it and felt that this was a good deal. "

"Far Eastern Bank? Is the boss called Qiu Degen?" Yang Wendong asked back.

Now it is 1965, and those famous wealthy people in the previous life have gradually made their fortunes, and Qiu Degen is one of them.

He started his business by building mobile cinemas in remote rural areas and purchasing some old movies. Although his fees were cheap, his costs were low and his profits were high. As a result, he made millions of Hong Kong dollars in just a few years and then built large-scale rural theaters in the countryside.

He then used the funds from the film industry to enter the banking industry and established the Far Eastern Bank; but in this wave of bank runs, the smaller banks were hit harder.

Fang Xianming said: "Yes, Qiu Sheng's Far Eastern Bank was also severely run, and he wanted us to buy shares and then get rid of the run like Hang Seng Bank.

He even brought the accounts directly to my office. I took a rough look and found that there was indeed nothing wrong with it. It should be the same as Hang Seng, which was involved in the bank run crisis. "

"We won't invest even if there is no problem." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "Once we invest in a second bank, I don't know how many banks will come to us again. Then we will be in trouble."

According to the original history, after this crisis, except for Hang Seng Bank which was acquired by HSBC, all other banks withered. It was not until the 80s, when Chinese capital rose, that Chinese banks did slightly better, but they were still far inferior to British capital.

Investing in Hang Seng by himself is not 100% safe, but he also believes in Ho Sin Hang's ability, so he might as well take a gamble. There is no business without risk in this world.

As for other banks, he is not interested.

Zou Wenhuai said, "Mr. Yang, I checked the locations of Qiu Debao's cinema chains. They are carefully selected. If I can get them, it will be of great help to us in controlling the cinema chains in Hong Kong."

"Okay, talk to Qiu Degen." Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "However, don't keep the price down at the current price. I predict that the housing price will drop by more than half. Let's talk about it based on this.

As for his bank, don't invest. Investing in one is fine, but if you invest in too many, someone might accuse me of taking advantage of the situation by buying up shares of Chinese companies at a low price."

In fact, housing prices would have fallen by more than half in 67, but considering the history that the Far Eastern Bank was eventually acquired by an American bank, if Qiu Degen had no sense of crisis at that time, he would not have sold the cinema chain. For a mature cinema chain, it would be okay to buy it at a slightly higher price than the lowest price, as its value was not very high.

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)