A week after receiving the review report, the Bank of England took decisive action, joining forces with Luxembourg, Cayman Islands and other relevant authorities to seal up China Commercial Bank on the same day and freeze its assets around the world.
The news spread to Hong Kong, triggering a wave of runs on China Commercial Bank (Hong Kong), with deposits reduced by 320 million that day!
In the evening of the same day, officials from the Hong Kong Banking Regulatory Commission held a news media conference and stated that the root cause of the "State Business Incident" was not in Hong Kong but overseas. Hong Kong's "State Business" was an independent "operation" and its operation was "perfect and feasible" and did not need to suspend business.
For a time, many media outlets had no doubts and planned to follow the words of the banking regulatory officials to layout the news for the next day.
The next day, Saturday.
While all media reported positive news, Hong Kong's authoritative Economic Daily published "negative news."
Its professional economists and commentators sharply pointed out three counterarguments:
First, the official statement that Xiangjiang International Business Group operates "independently" and is "not influenced by the parent company" is completely irresponsible and shows that banking regulatory officials lack proper understanding of international financial operations. How can the parent company make any mistakes?
If the problem is solved, the company can deal with it alone.
Second, if Hong Kong government officials agree with the China Banking Regulatory Commission's statement, why not issue a "foreign exchange guarantee" statement to dispel depositors' concerns.
Third, Xiangjiang International Commercial Bank should be sealed immediately to prevent assets from being transferred overseas.
For a time, it became the "Economic Daily" in all media except Hard Steel Wanhui Media Group, which surprised many people.
The Hong Kong government held a press conference yesterday in the hope of appeasing state-owned depositors and the entire Hong Kong financial community through the media. Logically speaking, the media only need to convey the words of the Hong Kong government.
Unexpectedly, the "Economic Daily" directly questioned the Hong Kong government, with the intention of launching an investigation.
morning.
Li Bingqiang is a major customer of China Commercial Bank and has deposited a total of 2 million in China Commercial Bank because he is in the catering business. Originally, he did not consider cooperation with China Commercial Bank, but the interest rate of China Commercial Bank
Others are taller.
But he didn't expect that he learned from the news last night that there was a run on China Commercial Bank, which shocked him. His business is not big, and 2 million is almost a large part of his cash. He is still counting on this
After the money matures, you can take it out to buy property!
"Boss, give me a copy of the Economic Journal?" Li Bingqiang said urgently.
"Xinbao" is the number one financial magazine in Hong Kong, so Li Bingqiang wanted to learn about the situation from it.
"In front of you, get it yourself!" The newsstand owner pointed in front of Li Bingqiang.
Li Bingqiang took a look and found that it was indeed in front of him, but he was so nervous that he didn't see it!
After paying the money, Li Bingqiang started reading on the horse. When he saw the Hong Kong government's words reported in the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Li Bingqiang suddenly became enlightened and had a false alarm.
"Let's go and have a look at the entrance of China Commercial Bank!" Li Bingqiang had an idea. After all, he was in business and didn't need to ask for leave.
When he arrived at a China Commercial Bank in Central, he was shocked that there was already a long queue.
"Brother, the Hong Kong government says everything is normal at China Commercial Bank. Why do you still want to withdraw money? You are not afraid of discounting the interest!"
The person waiting in line said unhappily: "You believe what the Hong Kong government says. Look, this is the view of the Economic Daily. They say that Xiangjiang's national businessmen cannot survive alone! Besides, I only need to keep my capital, and the interest will be enough."
What not, I don’t care anymore!”
"Ah, show me!"
The people in line thought that they were in the front and were not afraid of multiple competitors, not to mention that everyone must work together for this kind of thing, so they casually handed the newspaper to Li Bingqiang.
Seeing that it didn't matter, Li Bingqiang broke into a cold sweat and quickly joined the queue.
"The Hong Kong Economic Journal is not reliable at all, not professional at all, and almost missed my important news. I'll just read the Economic Daily in the future!" Li Bingqiang said to himself.
Two flowers bloom, one on each side.
Officials from the Financial Department and the Banking Regulatory Office also urgently began to hold meetings. They originally planned to use the weekend to communicate urgently with the UAE government and ask the UAE government, as the major shareholder of China Commercial Bank, to provide financial guarantees and capital injections.
Once Hong Kong's National Commercial Bank comes to an end, there will be no crisis.
And they did not close down China Commercial Bank because they hoped that there would be no wave of bank runs on Xiangjiang Bank.
Of course, these officials' misjudgments were also a large part of the reason.
The director of the Financial Secretary, Zhai Kecheng, is a British guy. He does not understand Chinese. He only heard from his assistant that a large number of depositors gathered in front of China Commercial Bank, ready to withdraw money.
"What's going on? Haven't we already issued announcements and suggestions? How come things are still happening?"
Zhuo Shengcai, commissioner of the Banking Regulatory Commission, relayed all the articles published by the Economic Daily to Cui Kecheng.
Cui Kecheng's face suddenly changed, and he said dissatisfied: "What's going on with them? Don't you know that this will cause the entire Xiangjiang Bank run incident?"
Although he was angry, he could not do anything about the actions of the Economic Daily because it belonged to the freedom of the press. Especially in Hong Kong, it was impossible for the Economic Daily to be targeted. That would cause confrontation among the entire media, even overseas.
The media will support it.
However, the Economic Daily's remarks also reminded some financial and banking regulatory officials.
The deputy director said: "I think we should pay more attention to it and immediately send a team to the headquarters of China Commercial Bank again to prevent them from transferring funds overseas. At the same time, we should step up contact with the UAE government and make sure they give a clear
The statement. Whether they inject capital and guarantee it or not is related to the fate of China Commercial Bank this time!"
Cui Kecheng also reacted, nodded and said: "Okay! Everyone, please cheer up. We must not let this matter spread to other banks, affecting the entire Hong Kong banking industry and the exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar!"
After some arrangements, the Financial Secretary and the Banking Regulatory Office worked overtime to deal with this matter.
In this way, the banking community in Hong Kong spent the two days of the weekend in trepidation, fearing that the squeeze would extend to them.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! There has always been a long queue at the door of China Commercial Bank, and the bank's cash was quickly exhausted.
April 8, Monday.
In the morning, all major media outlets in Hong Kong published: The Xiangjiang government ordered China Commercial Bank to suspend operations and accept closure.
The reason is that the major shareholder, the Abu Dhabi government, does not agree to financial support, and International Credit Card Joint Stock Company has deactivated all credit cards issued by China Commercial Bank Group.
For a time, public opinion in Xiangjiang was in an uproar.
Because most people still believed what the Hong Kong government said and did not go to China Commercial Bank to withdraw their deposits. Moreover, the Hong Kong government stated that the Exchange Fund was not prepared to guarantee China Commercial Bank.
Suddenly, they became angry!
A large number of depositors of the National Commercial Bank collectively went to Government House to petition, sat in at the National Commercial Bank, protested, and even marched on the streets, blocking traffic.
Their actions have received sympathy and support from citizens and public opinion, and they have unanimously condemned the Hong Kong government's vacillating policies, "misleading" the public, and damaging the government's credibility. If the sealing had been carried out at the beginning, the losses might have been minimized.
At the same time, "Economic Daily" became the professional newspaper with the highest sales in Hong Kong, on the grounds that it conducted fair reporting this time.
After the UAE government refused to provide capital injection and guarantee to the state-owned business, there were only three ways to deal with the "state-owned business incident":
First, using the Exchange Fund to acquire or inject capital into state-owned enterprises is the first demand of depositors. Since the 1980s, when problems arise in Hong Kong Bank, the Exchange Fund has always taken over or guaranteed it. However, when the Hong Kong government closed down state-owned enterprises today, it has expressed its disapproval.
The reason for considering using the Exchange Fund is that it is unfair to taxpayers to use public assets to save banks affected by events outside Hong Kong, and the "Sino-Shanghai Incident" has not affected the stability of the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate.
First, find a suitable buyer for the bank, which depositors are more willing to accept. Because the assets and liabilities of Guoshang are sold by the buyer, depositors can get back their deposits. On the same day, Zhuo Shengcai, an official of the Banking Regulatory Commission, also said,
Two consortiums have expressed interest in taking over China Commercial Bank.
Third, liquidation. This is what depositors are most opposed to. From petitions to demonstrations, depositors do not want Guoshang to be liquidated. After liquidation, there is a certain order in the distribution of bank assets: first, debts with priority, such as all expenditures required for liquidation,
Employee salaries/benefits/severance pay, legal debts owed to the government; secondly, secured debts; and finally, savers’ money. Generally speaking, savers can only get part of the money, and it takes several years to get it.
After more than a week of failed attempts to find a buyer, the Financial Secretary announced at the Legislative Council meeting on April 17 that he would apply to the High Court for the liquidation of China Commercial Bank. The Hong Kong government was prepared to advance HK$2 billion and release 30% of deposits to depositors (maximum
The amount is HKD 500,000).
When the news came out, the depositors waiting outside the Legislative Council suddenly became emotional. Some people even rushed to Queen's Road Central and sat on the road to block traffic to vent their dissatisfaction. In the end, J side used force to clear the area and arrested several people before allowing traffic to resume.
At the same time, the liquidation of China Commercial Bank had an impact on banks with Middle Eastern backgrounds. Dao Heng Bank and Hong Kong Bank (formerly Sun Hung Kai Bank) all experienced runs; even Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank began to suffer from runs.
As things unfolded, Lin Zuhui knew it was time for him to appear!
He had already formed a consulting team as soon as possible, consisting of financial professionals from Family Office and Hengjin Investment. However, he has been standing still, even though as early as April 8, Banking Regulatory Commission Commissioner Zhuo Shengcai revealed to the media that there were two
A consortium is very interested in acquiring China Commercial Bank and is expected to complete the acquisition.
However, Lin Zuhui knew that without the exchange fund guaranteeing the bad debts of China Commercial Bank, no one would dare to acquire it.
He is different. He is a novice and should pay tuition.
But he did not intervene immediately because he still planned to be a "white knight" and "try for favor" in front of the citizens of Xiangjiang. From now on, the money will be kept in his own bank.
The Financial Secretary only applied for liquidation, and the High Court would also give a "provisional liquidation" time, so Lin Zuhui had no time left.
Heroes always come at the most critical moment!
Lin Zuhui led many consultants and stormed into the Financial Secretary.
Director Zhai Kecheng, a British man, welcomed everyone with officials from the Financial Secretary and the Banking Regulatory Commission.
They never thought that Lin Zuhui, the richest man in China, would be interested in China Commercial Bank. Moreover, Lin Zuhui's main business is real estate, so he is not worried about being ignored by the bank!
After everyone sat in the conference room, Zhai Kecheng said: "Mr. Lin, to be honest, I am surprised. I didn't expect you to be interested in China Commercial Bank!"
Lin Zuhui said "hypocritically": "I also couldn't bear to have savers' money taken several years to get back at a loss, so I suddenly came up with this idea."
The people in the conference room suddenly looked at each other, are there such kind-hearted capitalists in this world?
Zhai Kecheng said with a smile: "Mr. Lin is indeed a philanthropist!"
His term is about to expire. If such an incident happens, it will inevitably affect his reputation. If someone takes over, why not do it!
Lin Zuhui said: "So, we need to understand the specific situation of China Commercial Bank. Are the materials ready?"
Zhai Kecheng signaled, and then Banking Regulatory Commission Commissioner Zhuo Shengcai took out a piece of information and gave it to Lin Zuhui's consultants.
Lin Zuhui took the time to say: "According to an investigation by one of my reporters, China Commercial Bank still has billions of unrecorded debts overseas. I wonder if you have examined it?"
Suddenly, people from the Financial Secretary and Banking Regulatory Office showed incredulous expressions.
Zhai Kecheng said honestly: "Since it is an unrecorded debt, how did the reporters under Lin Sheng know about it? We didn't find anything here!"
Lin Zuhui said: "This must be kept secret! Because the reporter learned that two overseas reporters died suddenly because of the investigation of this matter, and he no longer dared to show up. Besides, China Commercial Bank must have such illegal borrowing overseas.
, I believe you can also guess it, it’s just that the creditors haven’t jumped out yet!”
Zhai Kecheng nodded and said: "We did have speculations, but we still won't make an exception to vouch for you!"
Lin Zuhui frowned, and then said: "I believe the Hong Kong government is not willing to see this matter like this. It is still in the temporary liquidation stage. The Hong Kong government is also willing to see someone acquire China Commercial Bank, right?"
Zhai Kecheng reduced his holdings and said: "Having said that, the Exchange Fund cannot be used as a guarantee. This is the opinion of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Government. Moreover, if the Exchange Fund is willing to guarantee, the previous consortiums may have reached an agreement with us!
"
Lin Zuhui smiled bitterly and then said nothing.
Soon, several consultants told Lin Zuhui about the review situation, and Lin Zuhui suddenly hesitated.
The amount owed to outside depositors is 6.666 billion, and the 2 billion provided by the Hong Kong government is a loan. In other words, if all the money is withdrawn to savers, it will need to incur a debt of 6.666 billion. This does not include the possibility of 2 billion unrecorded overseas loans.
In fact, what Lin Zuhui didn't know was that in his previous life, the deposit was 8 billion, and the Hong Kong government took out 2.5 billion, which only accounted for 25%. In other words, detonating this mine in advance reduced losses by more than a billion.
Of course, China Commercial Bank also has a lot of assets, including loans, properties, banking networks, etc. These are worth about 5 billion, including some bad debts (old debts).
It seems that the loss is only 1.666 billion, but the bad debts may reach more than 1 billion, plus 2 billion unrecorded loans that may emerge from overseas, it really requires nearly 5 billion.
Lin Zuhui remembers that in his previous life, Chinese Bank was interested in acquiring the bank during the temporary liquidation period. However, he was frightened by the unrecorded loan of up to 2 billion and backed down at the last moment.
However, Lin Zuhui did not intend to retreat.
Of course, he would not immediately agree to the acquisition, but said goodbye to Zhai Kecheng and others.
It is normal for this kind of acquisition to be negotiated for several months. Zhai Kecheng and others still have high hopes. After all, if Lin Zuhui intends to enter the bank, he might really do such a "stupid thing".