(.) The banking industry in the United States is extremely advanced, and the commercial banking system implements the world's unique dual banking system, that is, the national bank approved by the federal government, and the state bank approved by the state government. In terms of U.S. banking regulatory and statistical classification, banks with assets of $1 billion are generally referred to as "large banks", while banks with assets of less than $1 billion are called "small banks". Of course, this classification has changed now, with the integration of world finance, the asset threshold of large banks is getting higher and higher, and today's large banks generally only have assets of more than 600 million US dollars will be called "big banks" in the industry, as for Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and other level banks, not to mention, now assets of less than 600 million US dollars, more than 1 billion US dollars of banks have a new name, is the so-called "medium-sized banks".

As for the small banks, a large part of them are national banks, but the vast majority are state banks. These banks may also be called "community banks", and in this case, they are basically similar to the credit cooperatives that were common in China, and their main business is relatively traditional, using the difference between deposit and loan interest rates to achieve profits, and the customer base is mainly ordinary residents and some small and medium-sized enterprises.

Such small banks abound in the United States, and there are thousands of them, and most of them are barely able to maintain their operations, except for some of them, as a supplement to the business of large banks.

The three banks identified by Zhou were not chosen randomly, with two state banks located in California and Texas. In terms of the size of the small banks, these two state banks can be regarded as relatively large. One of the community banks, the No. 1 National Bank of the United States (the name is good enough, there is actually such a bank, but in Minnesota, the total capital is only $260,000, and it collapsed in '21O, to borrow the name here) has a capital of $600.36 million and a deposit amount of $601.76 million. The other community exhibition bank has a total capital of US$800,000 and a deposit of US$600.55oo USD.

As for the other investment bank, the total capital is at $200 million, which is in the early 200 million dollars from the total capital of these three companies, and the total amount is estimated to be between $200 million and $300 million if acquired at a premium. Of course, a full takeover is absolutely impossible, because the share capital structure of a bank like this is very complex, not only with the shares of the board shareholders, but also with some independent shareholders, even community shares. However, absolute control is not a big problem, and Wells Fargo's final calculation of the final acquisition capital required is about the same as Max's prediction, about $200 million.

In addition, Mike also gave a theoretical holding plan, and Zhou Liwen only needs to invest about 1o billion US dollars. Zhou Liwen immediately rejected this plan after considering it, he didn't want to disturb his layout because of a small advantage, so he finally chose the former.

Zhou Liwen, an investment bank, is preparing to merge and reorganize it with an investment company in Heung Kong, and at the same time use this platform to absorb some financial talents as a platform for reserve and development of financial business. As for the two small banks, Zhou Liwen values them for a very simple reason, because these two small banks are well run in the small banking industry, and their community networks are relatively good. What's more, they are all cooperative banks of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as home mortgage companies, are inseparable from this kind of community banks, and like these community banks want to develop their business and survive from the cracks of big banks, the home mortgage business is also a profitable business that they pay attention to.

Los Angeles, California, David. Buck went out at 7 o'clock as usual, he lived in a wealthy neighborhood of Los Angeles, and the distance from his home to the office was about six kilometers, but David never drove and always walked. This good habit all year round makes David almost 6 years old this year, but he is still well-proportioned, looking like a middle-aged man in his early forties.

Walking out of the neighborhood in front of the street, David came to the bakery around the corner, and it happened that the owner was about to open for business, and saw David coming from afar to greet him warmly, and David also greeted the other party with a smile.

"David, would you like a cup of coffee? And a little dessert just out of the oven? The owner, Vincent, asked with a smile.

"Come on, Vincent, if it were afternoon, I probably wouldn't refuse your kindness, but it's morning, and you know that Anna's breakfast is much better than yours, so why wouldn't I eat it at home and have your breakfast?" David and Vincent are old friends, and he laughs and jokes with each other.

"Oh God, how did I forget Anna? But David, you've eaten breakfast made by Anna for decades, aren't you tired of it? Maybe you might want to consider a change of taste. Vincent squeezed his eyes at David and smiled, Vincent, David and David's wife Anna were all high school classmates, everyone is very familiar, it is said that there was Vincent among the people who pursued Anna at that time, but in the end the beautiful Anna chose David, which made the young Vincent very sad at that time. But these did not affect the friendship between them, and over the past few decades, time seems to have not diluted these friendships, but have become deeper and deeper.

David laughed and shook his head, "That's a good suggestion, but I'm afraid I'll have to go home and talk to Anna, maybe she'll think it's a good idea for you to deprive her of the fun of making breakfast." ”

"You can't do that, David, I didn't expect you to be as cunning as you were back then." Vincent, of course, knew that this was David's joke, and he deliberately put on a frightened expression, and then couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Of course," David said proudly, squeezing his eyes at his old friend, "Don't you know that bankers are very cunning?" ”

"yes, yes, so I'll never be a banker, I'll have to be a bakery." Vincent pointed to the bakery behind him and nodded with a smile.

After a few short cold words, Vincent continued to make preparations for the opening. David passed by Vincent's bakery and continued to walk in the direction of the office.

David was the chairman of a community bank owned by the Buck family, where his great-grandfather founded the first community bank in the American West, around 186. It has been almost 15o years since the historical calculation, and the David family has been at the helm of this bank for four generations. And this small bank has gradually expanded from an unknown town to a very good small bank in California.

With a capital of $600.36 million and a deposit of more than $600 million, these may be insignificant in the eyes of big banks, but in David's eyes, it is his pride

The No. 1 National Bank in the United States, that's the name of David's bank. Judging from the name, you can imagine what faith David's great-grandfather had in order to create this business. Four generations of the family, 15o years of hard work, to get to where we are today.

The fly in the ointment was that David didn't fulfill his promise to his father to take the bank into the ranks of big banks. Though he had been so close to his target, the trench seemed impassable. And now, he is almost 6, although the bank's operation is relatively stable, but still does not see the opportunity to take off, David knows very well that with his physical condition in another ten years, it is absolutely no problem, but if there are no unexpected opportunities in these ten years, let alone a big bank, it is reluctant to squeeze into a medium-sized bank.

It seems that the future of this bank depends on the efforts of future generations. David thought that he had three sons and a daughter, but of the four heirs, David still did not choose who would take his place.

The eldest son is almost 40 years old this year, but after graduating from college, he did not join the family bank, but chose to become a lawyer. And because of his work, he moved to New York, and he rarely saw each other a few times a year, and although he was doing well in the lawyer's profession, he also made it clear that David had no interest in taking over the bank

...

The second son, who is in his early thirties, is a typical playboy, likes fashion and women, and is now a so-called "fashion designer", who spends much longer in Europe than in the United States every year.

As for the youngest son, he is most like David in terms of his stable personality, but unfortunately he seems to be addicted to reading, and he is still staying in college after three master's degrees and two doctoral titles, and this crazy behavior makes David have a headache.

If he couldn't choose between his three sons, David might have to consider handing over the business to his daughter. His daughter is engaged in finance, but she does securities analysis work, and she doesn't seem to have much interest in running a bank. But this is not too much of a problem for David, anyway, there are still about ten years to go, maybe he will have a better choice at that time, maybe he can consider picking a more suitable candidate among several grandchildren.

Walking through a park and breathing in the fresh morning air, David soon arrived at the building where his office was located.

It's a B-story building, which might not be inconspicuous in New York City, where skyscrapers are numerous, but in Los Angeles, high-rise buildings are not common, so it's very conspicuous in this area.

Now, with a long time before the bank opens, David walks into the building and greets familiar security guards kindly, sometimes stopping to talk to them in a good mood. Just like today, he chatted with a black security guard named Ruka at the elevator entrance with great interest about yesterday's ball game, and only when the elevator came did he wave to the other party and step into the elevator.

The building is the property of the No. 1 National Bank of the United States, and David's office is on the top floor. But compared to the big banks, his office seems a little shabby. The office is only about 1oo square meters divided into three areas, and by the door is his secretary's office area, Miss Toris, who is in her fifties, is David's full-time secretary, she has been here with David for more than 20 years, from a beautiful girl with a golden head to an old lady with a gorgeous head now.

Miss Toris was a very competent secretary and David's right-hand man and trust. This was the main reason why she had been able to hold this position for so many years, and when she entered the office, Miss Toris had already taken her place as usual, and when she saw David come in, she got up and smiled and asked him if he had a cup of coffee as usual.

"Yes, thank you." David smiled and nodded, handed Miss Toris his coat, and walked through the door.

Walking through the office door, inside is David's private office. The whole place is divided into two areas, and the secretary area is partly a place for receiving guests, with a few sands and coffee tables. And further inside, leaning against the window is David's desk, this desk is some years old, when he took over the bank from his father, it has not been replaced, the precipitation of the years, so that this walnut desk has accumulated a thick historical rhyme.

Sitting at his desk, David casually turned on the computer on the desk, put on reading glasses and reviewed the daily report summary. This is a habit he has developed for many years, he used to use paper reports, and over the years has been replaced with electronic reports, although the cost has been saved a lot, and the electronic has also shortened the time for statistical summary, but for David, he is more accustomed to the previous way of reading paper reports.

After reading the electronic report with some difficulty, David had just put down his reading glasses when Miss Toris walked in with coffee.

"Your coffee."

"Thank you very much." David smiled and nodded, got up to take it, took a sip and praised, "It's really good coffee, Doris, I sometimes wonder what will happen if I can't drink the coffee you brew when I retire." ”

Miss Toris laughed, "It's easy, you can continue to hire me to make coffee for you, but it needs Anna's permission, doesn't it?" ”

David laughed and nodded, and when he sat back down, Miss Toris began her routine as usual.

Miss Toris's way of working is as brief and neat as her dress. She first reported on the bank's business, and then talked about David's work arrangements and itinerary plans for today. Among them, if David has any doubts, he can bring it up to Miss Toris so that she can make adjustments as soon as possible. Normally, such a routine work report only takes ten minutes, and just as Miss Toris was about to finish, the fax machine in the secretary's office area outside suddenly rang.

"I'm sorry sir, I need to go and see." Miss Toris said.

David nodded, motioning for her to look at the fax. Although the daily plan is arranged in advance, it is inevitable that there will be unexpected events. The fax machine rang, and perhaps something was going on, and the faithful Miss Toris offered to look at the fax for that reason, in order to determine if today's plan needed to be revised.

After taking a sip of coffee, David picked up a few newspapers that Miss Toris had prepared for him and flipped through them, and after only a few years of reading, Miss Toris returned.

"Sir, we may be in trouble." Miss Toris looked solemn and held a piece of paper in her hand.

"Trouble?" David, who was not prepared in the slightest, was stunned for a moment, and looked at Miss Toris with some puzzlement.

"Look at this, the fax I just received." Miss Toris stepped forward quickly and handed the fax in her hand to David, who took the fax suspiciously and looked at it carefully, and when he read a few lines, he was stunned, and the whole person was motionless as if by magic.

"Sir? David, are you alright? Miss Toris asked with concern, for David's face had become very ugly at this time.

"Oh...... I'm fine....... David replied, and although he tried to squeeze a smile out of his face, it seemed so fake compared to the previous one. And the fingers holding the paper were trembling slightly, which showed the anxiety, uneasiness and anger in his heart.

"Doris, I think...... Is it okay to stay alone for a while? David said in a somewhat hoarse voice.

Miss Toris nodded without surprise, she turned and walked out, and when she reached the door, she stopped, turned back, and said, "David, don't worry, I'll be outside if you need me." ”

"Thank you...... Toris. David smiled and nodded at her, watched Miss Toris leave the office and closed the door, and when she left, David, who had barely supported him just now, suddenly looked as decadent as a popped balloon, he picked up his coffee and took a big sip, trying to calm his mind, and then continued to look at the fax.

"Why? Why is that? After reading it several times, the content of the fax did not change in the slightest, and those cold words pierced David's eyes. This fax is actually very simple, the main content is to propose the acquisition of the No. 1 National Bank in the United States, if this is an ordinary company, David may not care too much, even if it is his competitor, at most it will cause David to be vigilant. This kind of acquisition or something, the No. 1 National Bank of the United States has not encountered it before, and it has also experienced such things in the decades that David has been at the helm. However, there was no time that David was so shocked and frightened, because the reason was very simple, it was not an ordinary person or an ordinary bank who came to this fax, but a giant that David needed to look up to, and even could not touch for a lifetime

"Wells Fargo"

This line of words is the main reason for David's gaffe, compared with the world's No. 1 Wells Fargo, David's No. 1 National Bank in the United States is like a dwarf standing in front of a giant. Or rather, not even a dwarf, perhaps the ant metaphor is more appropriate. This made David a little confused in consternation, why would a giant like Wells Fargo buy his own bank? Could it be that today is April Fool's Day, April 1st? Is this fax just a deliberate joke on someone to play on themselves?

(New week, ask for tickets!) Beg...

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