Sandwell shook his head in his heart, too tender, these capital upstarts who started with the Internet are really vulnerable in front of real financiers. Ｘ

Hehe, the carnival of over-the-counter capital, even this kind of hairy boy can get a piece of the pie, it can be seen that this carnival is just a farce.

The condescending Sandywell couldn't help but show a look of pity, but he heard Zhang Chen in front of him suddenly chuckle.

Zhang Chen didn't seem to be affected by Sandy Vale in the slightest, and said lightly: "Mr. Weir, do you really think that Tinder Source didn't predict this situation before?"

Sandyvale remained silent: "Oh, why would you make such an outrageous request?"

Zhang Chen smiled slightly, and instead of directly answering Sandywell's question, he diverted the topic: "Mr. Weil, what do you think about the U.S. financial market in the next few years?"

Sandyvale frowned, he didn't like this kind of conversation very much, and the ten minutes he had met with Zhang Chen had already made him feel that he was wasting time.

"I think you should go to a good university first and then ask that question. Sandywell said with a cold face, "Most of the employees at the core of the Traveler Group are graduates of Harvard and Yale, and they never ask such childish questions. ”

Zhang Chen didn't think it was upset, and still smiled and said: "Let's talk about it casually, for example, the Financial Services Modernization Act, which is currently being hyped, it seems that the Travelers Group is very concerned about whether this bill can be passed by the meeting." ”

Sandyvale was shocked, but still said quietly: "Okay, little one, let's stop this meaningless discussion, I'm still busy, maybe in a few years, I'll give you a seat on the board of directors, and that's all for today." ”

Zhang Chen sat still and didn't move, but crossed his legs, "Mr. Weir, don't be in such a hurry, listen to me first." ”

Without waiting for Sandyvale to object, Zhang Chen continued: "The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 expressly prohibited bank holding companies from owning other financial companies, which objectively made it impossible for investment banks to engage in commercial banking business, and commercial banks could not give full play to their own financial advantages to engage in investment business, and a series of businesses requiring a large amount of capital, such as insurance and bonds, could not obtain capital support from the commercial banking system. ”

Of course, this fundamentally guarantees the safety of the funds of ordinary savings customers of commercial banks, but objectively, it harms the fundamental interests of the financial oligarchs. But in the era when the Great Depression had just ended, the passage of this bill was in line with the will of the people and a natural thing. ”

"But in the last decade or so, things have changed, with the continuous increase in financial innovation, the Glass-Steagall Act has increasingly restricted the pace of big bankers to expand their sphere of influence, and more and more bankers have realized that with the continuous advancement of asset securitization, if the banking industry cannot achieve cross-industry operations, it will be difficult to compete with European banking groups in the international market. ”

"So there is an urgent need for both commercial and investment banks to break the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. But it was too difficult to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act, so Wall Street bankers persuaded the Federal Reserve, and Greenspan redefined mixed business last year, raising the limit to 25 percent. ”

"But just raising the upper limit of the mixed industry ratio is far from satisfying the greedy appetite of bankers, as long as there are enough interests, Wall Street has never been afraid to break the provisions of the law, no, Wall Street's break is not called breaking, but exploration, because once there is a similar merger and acquisition that exceeds the prescribed proportion, the government will definitely make the merger legal by amending the law. ”

Sandyvale looked at the Omega on his wrist, which had been with him for almost forty years, and was still a birthday present from his wife Joan when he first met him, and he had never taken it off since: "What the hell are you trying to say?"

Zhang Chen said to himself: "So, let me guess, what is the real reason behind the acquisition of Salomon Brothers by the Traveler Group? It's an interesting question, isn't it?"

Sandyvale looked impatient: "Okay, stop playing this child's trick, that's the end of today's meeting." ”

"Citi. Zhang Chen gently spat out a word.

The air froze.

Zhang Chen looked at Sandyvale who looked like a ghost, and smiled with satisfaction, finally successfully pretending to be forced once.

Sandievale sat back down: "Young man, I don't know where you got this ridiculous information, but I tell you, what you say is nonsense. On Wall Street, you have to suffer a lot if you talk about it. ”

Zhang Chen showed a grateful look: "Thank you for your advice, Mr. Weir, since my judgment is wrong, I will immediately publish an apology in the Wall Street Journal and publicly apologize for my words." ”

Sandyvale's eyes widened angrily: "You!"

Zhang Chen looked at Sandyvale calmly: "Mr. Weir, as long as you continue to fulfill the previous agreement between us, I can guarantee that whether you want to acquire Citigroup or Datong, Tinder Source will not become an unstable factor for you." But if you abandon your dignity as a banker and choose to break your promises, I can also guarantee that whatever your plan is next, you will not succeed. ”

Sandyvale struggled to suppress his anger: "Where did you get the news?"

Zhang Chen smiled slightly: "Mr. Weir, you are not the only one who can see the future financial trend, if you don't have a plan for the next step, there is no need to buy Salomon Brothers at all." It is true that Salomon Brothers can make up for the shortcomings of the Traveler Group in the bond business, but in the traditional M&A field, Salomon Brothers' business model is too different from the Traveler Group, and it is difficult to complete the integration between the two. ”

"I can see this kind of thing as a young man who is just 18 years old, and as a Wall Street legend, Mr. Weir, you will not fail to see it, but even so, you still chose to acquire Salomon Brothers, the fifth largest investment bank in the United States, and there must be other considerations. Combined with the current speculation about the Financial Services Modernization Act, it is not difficult to guess Mr. Vail's future plans. ”

Sandyvae regained his composure: "You are very imaginative, I don't deny that the Travelers Group may get involved in commercial banking in the future, but merging with Citigroup is just ridiculous, we can't eat Citi." ”

Zhang Chen suddenly showed a mysterious smile: "Merger, you just said merger." ”

Sandyvale's face changed dramatically.

"I've been talking about acquisitions, but Mr. Weil, you're talking about mergers, and it seems that you have a mature plan in mind. Zhang Chen looked at Sandyvale with a playful smile.