The news that real estate developers had joined forces to "confront" the Hong Kong government was published in various newspapers the next morning.
As the Financial Secretary, McGrath was naturally informed of this incident by his assistant and immediately became furious.
McGrath is a veteran official in the colony. In 1966, he was employed as an Administrative Officer in the Administrative Grade of the Hong Kong Government. At that time, he was only 26 years old and only four years after graduating from Birmingham Business School with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He successively served as Assistant Chief Secretary,
Assistant Financial Secretary, Director of Trade, Department of Industry and Commerce (not the third department), Deputy Financial Secretary.
Now that the newly appointed Financial Secretary has encountered such a difficult problem, he did not expect it. Of course, as an official who has served in Xiangjiang for a long time, McGrath is well aware of the strength of Xiangjiang real estate developers. If public opinion was not too strong, he would
I don’t want to attack real estate in a big way.
As the Financial Secretary, of course he is also very concerned about fiscal revenue, and he is indeed worried about the threat from real estate developers-investing overseas.
However, now he must move back to the city, otherwise he, the newly appointed financial secretary, will have no authority and become a joke to the citizens.
Go to war directly with real estate developers?
It's obviously impossible. Others have not broken any laws. Even if they did, the Hong Kong government would not dare to openly suppress all real estate developers.
Soon, he said to his assistant: "Immediately invite HSBC Bank's Chief Executive Officer Pu Weishi and Hang Seng Bank Chairman Lee Quo-wai to come to my office and tell me that I have something urgent to discuss!"
"Okay, Director!"
About an hour later, Pu Weishi and Li Quowei came to the Financial Secretary. HSBC is the 'quasi central bank' of Hong Kong and is now the rotating chairman of the Hong Kong Banks Association. Hang Seng Bank is a subsidiary of HSBC, and the Financial Secretary
The boss is the immediate boss of HSBC, so the relationship between the three can be known.
McGuller said: "Did you see the news this morning?"
Puisi nodded and said: "I was also told by my assistant about such a big thing, and I found it a bit incredible. The real estate growth this year is so high, and they are still not satisfied!"
Li Guowei also echoed: "They deliberately used it in the name of entertaining Canadian provincial officials, but in fact they were targeting this 'anti-speculation' policy. They even revealed that they planned to secretly use their own financial company to carry out high-value mortgage strategies.
Apparently the banks are also targeted!"
Hang Seng Bank is no longer the same Hang Seng Bank it was back then. When there was a run on Hang Seng Bank in the 1960s, it was Lee Quo Wai who negotiated with HSBC. From then on, Lee Quo Wai truly became a member of HSBC. In the beginning, the founders of Hang Seng Bank and HSBC were still at odds with each other.
Peaceful coexistence. Although HSBC took 51% of the equity, it only dispatched four directors and did not interfere too much in the operations of Hang Seng Bank.
But as time went by, the Hang Seng veterans discovered that HSBC first listed Hang Seng Bank in the 1970s, and then aggressively acquired shares in the stock market, expanding its stake to 61%. As a result, the influence of the Hang Seng veterans gradually weakened.
.
This is also true. HSBC was very defensive against the Hang Seng veterans and had been strengthening its holdings and supporting Li Quowei and other measures. In the end, the Hang Seng veterans could only completely lose control of Hang Seng Bank.
McGrath nodded and said, "How do you think we should fight back against them?"
Pu Weishi and Li Guowei suddenly thought deeply. In this battle without gunpowder, the strength of the group of real estate developers was really very strong and extremely united.
Seeing that the two of them were silent, McGrath immediately said: "What do you think about wooing Lin Zuhui over? He has an agreement with the Financial Secretary. If he manages the National Commercial Bank well, he can have priority in purchasing the Overseas Trust Bank at a price of 2.5 billion.
Now, all I have to do is ask him to ask New Era Group to hold a press conference and agree to abide by the 70% mortgage. I believe he will also weigh the pros and cons!"
If Lin Zuhui had been at the scene, he would probably scold McGrath. This was the condition that was negotiated at the beginning, but the Hong Kong government dared to go back on it and use it to threaten itself.
In fact, Pu Weishi did not want Lin Zuhui to take over the Overseas Trust Bank. After all, Lin Zuhui was too good at business. He was worried that Lin Zuhui's bank would affect HSBC and Hang Seng in the future. But at the beginning of China Commercial Bank, others paid 5 billion in real money, who would
Maybe it can influence the rise of others!
"This move is not impossible, it will disintegrate the real estate developers alliance in one fell swoop!"
McGrath nodded and said: "Also, I hope you will come forward to advise all real estate developers not to go against the Hong Kong government. If they insist on going their own way, their other real estate plans will not receive support from banks!"
Pu Wei Shi and Li Guowei were shocked. McGuller was taking over the entire bank to start a war with the real estate developers!
However, as a quasi-central bank, it is impossible for HSBC not to agree and support McGraw;
Precisely because HSBC is a ‘quasi central bank’, it must keep pace with the Financial Secretary.
"Okay, Director!"
.........
But when Lin Zuhui was warned by Pu Weishi on the phone, he immediately wanted to reply - It's okay if you don't threaten me, but if you really threaten me, HSBC has no use for you!
He is not like other real estate developers who need the support of banks. He has his own bank, and since he can earn a lot of cash in finance, he can completely lend the bank's money to his own company.
But then he thought about it, he might not be afraid of banks, but other real estate developers must be!
They will definitely bow their heads, why should they bear it alone?
Moreover, if it is reported in the news that he is the only one to fight against the Financial Secretary, then the "good reputation" he has finally earned may be ruined.
Moreover, Puisi also conveyed to McGraw about the issue of overseas trust banks, which made Lin Zuhui a little worried and annoyed. He actually did not believe that the Hong Kong government would tear up the agreement, but he did not want to gamble.
Therefore, after hanging up the phone, Lin Zuhui immediately communicated with Zheng Yutong and others.
Sure enough, everyone sighed and expressed that they did not want to make too big a fuss with the bank. They also said that unlike Lin Zuhui, who runs a bank, he meant to compromise!
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! In this case, Lin Zuhui suggested that everyone jointly hold a press conference to announce the real estate developer’s decision.
Everyone agreed!
...
The next day.
Cheung Kong, New Era, New World, SHKP, Henderson and other large real estate companies jointly held a press conference and expressed their decision to accept 70% of bank mortgages and had no intention of going against the bank.
Real estate developers may not be afraid of the government, but they are definitely afraid of banks.
Without bank support, any real estate group with strong financial resources cannot operate normally.
HSBC is the rotating chairman bank of the Hong Kong Association of Banks, and its status is like the government's central bank.
He who knows the current affairs is a hero!
Of course, this is just a compromise on the surface, to give face to the newly appointed Financial Secretary and the banks.
In reality?
First of all, the Hong Kong government may not be strict during the implementation process;
Secondly, this time, HSBC and Hang Seng Bank also expressed their stance. Most banks are actually responsive to real estate developers' requests. Therefore, it is logical for real estate developers to collude with some banks to increase mortgage loans without authorization.
Finally, real estate developers generally believe that regulation is too rigid and is not conducive to the development of the property market.
This matter has come to an end, but the crisis in the Xiangjiang property market has just begun!
When people discover that housing in Xiangjiang has not been suppressed, but continues to skyrocket, it will be the second round of 'war'!
By then, the people complaining will no longer be real estate developers, but the beneficiary groups including the Hong Kong government.
Stay tuned!
This incident reminded Lin Zuhui that New Era Group must speed up its comprehensive development!
The next public outrage will never be so small!
Moreover, when the time comes, Shuai Hu, the largest real estate developer, will be the best choice!
So he may be the most angry target of the citizens!
He must make some preparations!
‘Hong Kong will be revitalized by Hong Kong’, ‘Cartoons will rejuvenate Hong Kong’, ‘Traditional Chinese medicine will revitalize Hong Kong’, and ‘New Era Group Integration’ are Lam Cho-fai’s response plans.
........
November 11, Monday.
At the core high-level meeting of New Era Group, Lin Zuhui said: "From now on, we will reduce the scale of land bank purchases by 40%, and give priority to land and old buildings in Hong Kong, Kowloon, Sha Tin, and Tsuen Wan. At present, we will only
The land bank is 3 million square feet less than that of Sun Hung Kai, so there is no need to be too radical and we should consider comprehensive investment issues!"
In the first ten months of this year, New Era Group purchased nearly HK$400 million in land reserves almost every month, which now reaches 30 million square meters, as well as 18 million square meters of agricultural land.
Purchasing nearly 400 million in land reserves every month is equivalent to spending almost all of the profits from development sites and the funds returned from land/construction costs.
Currently, New Era Group has almost 5 billion in cash on its books and 8 billion in debt.
When the senior executives heard this, they also knew that the "Hong Kong Government, Banks, Real Estate Developers" incident that was causing a stir this time had touched their bosses - they didn't want to stand out.
Chen Bin said: "Okay, but our land is still higher than Sun Hung Kai in terms of location and quality!"
Lin Zuhui said: "In that case, this has set the tone! Moreover, we are currently investing in a large number of large projects - the Tsuen Wan large project and the commercial building reconstruction plan, which also require a large amount of funds. The cash flow in the company's accounts must also be guaranteed
It is enough and ready to make large-scale investments overseas and in the mainland at any time. Xiangjiang is too small to accommodate our New Era Group."
Everyone couldn't help but be surprised. This was contrary to the boss's strategy of "only investing in Hong Kong". Could it be that the boss was concerned about his reputation and chose to reduce his investment in Hong Kong.
Seeing everyone's questions, Lin Zuhui smiled and said: "Of course the main thing is to invest in Xiangjiang, and it cannot be less than 60%!"
Everyone nodded.
Then, Lin Zuhui said to Lu Donglai: "I will triple the talent pool of New Era Group (China) and be ready to expand to the mainland at any time!"
Everyone is accustomed to Lin Zuhui's ability to predict things. No one in Xiangjiang has a boss who can predict things in advance and accurately like this. When the boss said this today, he must have gotten some news when he went to the mainland in October.
Lu Donglai said seriously: "Okay, I know what to do!"
He followed his boss to the mainland for inspections and heard some of his plans, so it was not surprising.
Finally, Lin Zuhui concluded: "Don't worry, everyone, the Hong Kong government's crackdown on real estate this time will not be very effective. Hong Kong's real estate power is still full. Next year, we will still have huge cash flow. So, use our passion to
Manage every industry seriously. When the time is right, the entire group will explode with amazing power."
Let’s give everyone some blood so they don’t think that the Hong Kong government and banks won this time.
"Yes, boss!"
As expected, everyone is excited. New Era Group will reap greater gains next year. Office buildings are joining the group one after another, and its status in Hong Kong is evident.