Since September last year, Hong Kong's future problems and the stock market crash have shaken people's confidence in the Hong Kong dollar, and the Hong Kong dollar has continued to depreciate.

In September 1983, there was a crisis in the Hong Kong dollar, and the Hong Kong dollar fell to an all-time low of 9.6 Hong Kong dollars to the US dollar.

As early as November 1974, due to the weakness of the US dollar, the Hong Kong dollar was changed to free floating. However, Hong Kong's economy entered a period of turbulence as the monetary policy framework was still in its infancy and could not replace the monetary structure that relied on the value of foreign currencies and did not have clear monetary policy objectives.

Since 1977, various problems, including trade deficits, currency depreciation, and high inflation, have begun to emerge.

At the end of 1981, coinciding with the low tide of the US dollar, 1 US dollar was worth 5.5 Hong Kong dollars.

Li Hualong remembers the Hong Kong dollar crisis, and he remembers that in order to save Hong Kong's financial system, the Hong Kong government introduced a linked exchange rate system, and the Hong Kong dollar was pegged to the US dollar, and the exchange rate was set at 7.8 Hong Kong dollars to 1 US dollar.

Since then, the exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar has stabilized, and the linked exchange rate system has been implemented until the time of Li Hualong's passage in later generations.

In order to deal with the Hong Kong dollar crisis, Li Hualong made a lot of arrangements in advance.

Li Hualong converted a large amount of Hong Kong dollars into US dollars, and even Hang Seng Bank converted all the profits on his books into US dollars, and in addition, at the instigation of Li Hualong, Li Yisong, Li Huawen, and Li Hualong also took out money to invest in US dollars and foreign exchange.

Problems about Hong Kong's future and the stock market crash in Hong Kong have shaken people's confidence in the Hong Kong dollar, and the Hong Kong dollar has continued to depreciate.

In September 1983, there was a Hong Kong dollar crisis, and the Hong Kong dollar continued to fall against the US dollar.

At 8.5 Hong Kong dollars to 1 US dollar, Li Hualong began to sell US dollars to cash out.

In just a few months, Li Hualong made more than double the profit by investing in US dollar foreign exchange, of course, his worth did not double, and the proportion of his total assets in the foreign exchange market was very small.

October 5th. After the Hong Kong Stock Exchange closed, Li Hualong announced through Li Hualong Financial Company that Li Hualong was ready to acquire shares of Hong Kong Telephone Company at a price of 5.5 Hong Kong dollars per share, before. The closing price of HKTC shares was HK$4.55 per share.

In the days that followed, Mr. Li bought 90.21 million shares of the Hong Kong Telephone Company, bringing his stake in the company to 59.2 percent.

A week later, the Hong Kong Telephone Company resumed trading at an opening price of HK$5.6 per share. Since that day, the share price of HKTC has never fallen below the price of HK$5.6.

In order to save Hong Kong's financial system and reassure the people, the Hong Kong government promulgated the Linked Exchange Rate System on 15 October 1983, and the Linked Exchange Rate Position was promulgated by Pang Laizhi, who was then the Financial Secretary, and officially commenced operation on 17 October 1983.

After the Hong Kong government announced the news of the joint exchange rate system, Hang Seng Bank applied for suspension of trading and announced the profit from investing in US dollar foreign exchange.

The day after the announcement, Hang Seng Bank's shares resumed trading. The company's share price rose against the market, reaching a maximum of HK$50 per share on the day, and the market value of Hang Seng Bank was as high as HK$30 billion at this price.

After a period of time, such a sentence began to circulate in Hong Kong, Li Hualong is the God of Wealth, and it is difficult to invest in the purchase of listed companies such as Hang Seng Bank controlled by the God of Wealth.

Those who understand it will know that this kind of remarks is nonsense, but many Hong Kong people believe that this caused it for a long time. Hang Seng Bank's price-to-earnings ratio is much higher than that of other listed banks in Hong Kong.

Hang Seng Bank, of which Li Hualong is chairman, has lived up to the popularity of investors, and in the following two decades, its average annual profit growth rate has exceeded 20 percent.

……

Li Hualong has studied the situation of Hongkong Land very thoroughly, and he feels that Hongkong Land's large debt is not a problem. As long as the real estate market is still good, the economic prospects are "competitive", and the capital is abundant, the land company that sits on the land king of the central district will not worry about making no money, but it is a pity that Margaret Thatcher fell in the capital and lost the confidence of the Hong Kong people.

There is a wave of immigrants in Hong Kong. The immigrants swept away their funds, the exchange rate plummeted, and Hong Kong people threw Hong Kong dollars to withdraw foreign currency.

To add insult to injury, the economic recession in Europe, the United States and Japan has cast a grim cloud over Hong Kong's business community.

The real estate market has slipped, the buildings built have turned from beautiful to stagnant, the real estate company has been enclosed in an iron net, the strange goods of the buildings have become priceless, and the loans owed to the syndicate are not only unable to be repaid, but the interest alone is equivalent to losing a building in one year.

In 1983, the real estate collapsed and Hongkong Land fell into an unprecedented crisis.

In FY1983, Hongkong Land incurred a loss of HK$1.3 billion.

Hongkong Land, the flagship of Jardine Matheson, dragged its parent company Jardine Matheson into a quagmire, and Jardine Matheson's profit plummeted by 80% in the same financial year.

On the evening of September 29, 1983, the board of directors announced his resignation as chairman of the two companies.

On 1 January 1984, he resigned as a director of Jardine Matheson, where he had served for 30 years.

"I'm just a part-time worker."

As the most prominent and powerful foreign bank leader in Hong Kong, Niu Bijian said in an extremely sad tone.

"The whole situation has changed, Britain is ready to abandon Hong Kong, and Chinese businessmen have been getting stronger and stronger since the 70s of the 20th century," he told a Reuters reporter in Hong Kong. It's like when the United States supported Japan, and suddenly one day it was discovered that the baby in its arms was a tiger. People always hold on to the Wharf without looking to see if the opponent is a baby or a tiger. If a person's arm is bitten by a tiger, it can be bitten off or bitten, regardless of whether the hand is shaking or struggling. A wise person does not have to worry about the lost hand, but thinks about how to save the other hand. ”

"I love Hong Kong, and I will always love Hong Kong."

Standing on the top floor of the Jardine Plaza Building, facing Victoria Harbour, Niu Bijian muttered with deep emotion.

Some media in Hong Kong speculated about Nyu's words, believing that he was resentful of the Keswick family.

Wharf and Hongkong Land, known as the wings of Jardine Matheson, lost one wing when Nicholas was in power.

Now the other wing, can it be saved?

Li Hualong is a tiger, and Hongkong Land is like a deer that has lost the ability to run, even if the doe wants to protect the fawn, she can't organize a hungry tiger to eat the fawn.

Nurbijian is undoubtedly a victim of the power struggle between the major shareholders and the management.

Before leaving Hong Kong, Nguyen repeatedly stressed that he "loves Hong Kong".

Some people estimate that Niu Bijian is telling the truth, and that the Jardine Matheson family's large-scale overseas expansion is the consistent proposition of the Keswick family, and that Niu Bijian, as the head of the salary, is just carrying out his will. The sharp decline in Jardine Matheson's strength in Hong Kong is the result of poor overseas investment.

Niu Bijian stepped down, and the focus of public opinion gradually converged on his successor, Simon? Keswick.

Born in Winchester, England in 1942, Simon, like his uncle John, who was a former Jardine Matheson Taipan, entered the famous Eton College in England as a teenager, and after graduation, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, a world-renowned university. Simon did not want to study, and he only studied for a year before he had a special funeral. He lay in a coffin and was carried out of the school gate by his classmates – never to say goodbye to the University of Cambridge, to which students from all over the world aspired. Simon's cynicism provoked his father William to be furious, thinking that he was "unteachable".

Simon joined Jardine Matheson in 1962 and worked in overseas branches. In early 1982, Simon was relocated to Hong Kong and became Managing Director in the same year. He persuaded the other directors to frequently challenge Nurbijian. Simon got his wish and became the fifth person in the Keswick family to serve as the Jardine Taipan.

Simon who has passed the age of no doubt? Keswick is no longer the gentleman he was when he was young. But is he capable of ruling the largest foreign bank in Hong Kong? Quite a few people have asked this question.

Simon? Before Keswick officially took office, the Hong Kong edition of the English-language "Asian Wall Street Journal" reported on the changes and future of Jardine Matheson under the headline "For Jardine Matheson's new Taipan, the battle has just begun".

Simon? Keswick took over the management of Jardine Land and inherited the debts left by his predecessor.

Some shareholders of the two companies do not think that Simon? Keswick has a knack for returning to the sky, and many shareholders have chosen to sell shares of Jardine Matheson and Land, while few are willing to take over, which has caused the stock prices of these two companies to continue to fall.

Simon? Keswick had wanted to immediately introduce a "bail-in and loan repayment" package, that is, the sale of some overseas assets and non-core businesses in Hong Kong.

Li Hualong doesn't have a West Gate at all? Within a few days, Keswick had time to show his talents, and he took the initiative.

In Hong Kong, there is a saying that "before Hong Kong, there was Jardine." ”

Jardine Matheson & Co. was founded in 1832 in Canton by the opium dealers Jardine and Madison.

In 1841, after the opening of Hong Kong, Jardine Matheson moved its headquarters to Hong Kong, which was one of the four major foreign companies in Hong Kong in the 19th century.

In 1855, Jardine's niece-in-law, William? Keswick came to work for Jardine Matheson and gradually climbed to the position of Jardine Matheson. For more than 100 years, the Keswick family has a total of 5 people serving as Jardine Taipan, and the family controls 10%~15% of the shares of Jardine Matheson, which is the largest shareholder, and Jardine Matheson is also considered to be the foundation of the Keswick family.

After the establishment of New China, the loss of Jardine Matheson's assets in China was more than 10 million pounds, which was a huge amount at that time.

Jardine Matheson has always been wary of the GCD regime and pursued the policy of "profit in Hong Kong and development overseas", with overseas bases in more than 20 countries and regions.

Especially in the 70s of the 20th century, Jardine Matheson had little confidence in Hong Kong, and vigorously expanded its overseas business, acquiring Yee Jen Real Estate in the United Kingdom, sugar mills in Hawaii and the Philippines, TTI Oil in the Middle East and Raymins in South Africa. The front is too long, the rate of return is low, and the funds dry up and have to be sold.

The Chinese-funded consortium led by Li Hualong took advantage of the rapid expansion of the situation, and the old lion of Jardine Matheson became more and more depressed, and gradually lost to these tigers of South China.

The two largest companies in the Jardine Matheson family are Jardine Matheson Land, which owns prime prime building properties in Central District, dozens of supermarkets and boutique retail chains. In terms of the controlling position of the whole system, Jardine Matheson is the most obvious; When it comes to assets, Hongkong Land sits big. Therefore, the Jardine system is also known as the Jardine system. (To be continued.) )