"Gentlemen, thank you for arriving in such a short time!"

Paulson took off his trench coat, and the staff behind him immediately took it, walked out softly, and closed the door to the conference room by the way.

This is the 13th floor of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Tower, a majestic building that stands out in the concrete forest. But in the financial markets as a whole, it is second only to the Federal Reserve in Washington. Because the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is not only the largest in the Federal Reserve System, its president is also a standing member of the Federal Reserve Board, and sometimes even holds the position of vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, such as Geithner.

What's more, there is gold hidden here from all over the world. After World War II, the establishment of the Bretton Woods system pegged the value of the dollar to gold, and the world's gold was shipped to New York and stored in the underground vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Although the Bretton Woods system collapsed and central banks repatriated some of their gold reserves, there are still more than $60 billion in gold hard currency stored here.

Henry. By the time Paulson arrived at the Federal Reserve Building in New York, the prominent Wall Street CEOs had been waiting for 45 minutes, and the meeting was scheduled for 6 p.m.

……

Over the past two days, Wall Street analysts and -5 traders have thoroughly understood what the Reshman Brothers asset restructuring plan is all about. There is no hope for the revival of the Kaminari brothers' stock price, and the most important thing now is to prevent a sudden crash, and to monitor it every minute and every second.

At 7 a.m., Dow Jones Newswires published an editorial declaring: "Kaminari Brothers may be sold." But the problem is if the US Fed is ready to help. How will it be carried out? ”

"Given that the Treasury Department and the U.S. Federal Reserve are working together to broker the sale of Remon Brothers, it's hard to tell if the Fed will support other institutions in a similar situation, especially after they have hosted Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae," the New York Times said. ”

The Wall Street Journal put it this way, "In the Bear Stearns bankruptcy case, the market still has concerns about systemic risk. This concern will create unpredictable risks for the market, so the Fed's intervention is justified. ”

"But the current Kaminarimon is the polar opposite of Bear Stearns. Rumors of the Kaminman Brothers' bankruptcy have been circulating for months, and the Fed's rediscount window has been open to investment banks, suggesting that there is no moral need for any more liquidity injections. The more widespread the rumors of bankruptcies, the more anticipated the market becomes, so concerns about systemic risk are completely unwarranted. ”

"If the Fed comes to the rescue of Kaminarimon again, then it will become the norm for the government to bail out in a possible crisis in the future. This is tantamount to the government endorsing these large financial institutions, in disguised ways to encourage them to venture into riskier areas. ”

9:45 a.m. BC released a scoop declaring that the government would not fund the rescue of the Kaminmons.

During the live broadcast, the male host sued Sù Market, and the news came from an acquaintance close to Paulson. The reason why the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve do not intend to save the Rehmen brothers coincides with what the Wall Street Journal said: the primary market has enough market to absorb the expectation that the May bankruptcy of the Rehmen brothers; The second is that the Fed has opened the rediscount window to investment banks to provide liquidity, in other words, the Fed and the Treasury have fulfilled their obligations.

As soon as the news broke, Kaminari Brothers' stock price immediately plunged 9% to $3.84 per share.

Merrill Lynch also suffered from the decline. The focus of the market has gradually shifted from the Kaminari brothers to the investment bank. Although Merrill Lynch ranks third among the top five investment banks on Wall Street, it is compared to the top two, Goodman & Co. and Stanley. Merrill Lynch is undoubtedly the weakest one. And without the cover of the Kaminari brothers, the bears soon surged.

In the last trading day, Merrill Lynch's stock price has fallen by 16%, and now it has been affected by the Kaminmen brothers, and Merrill Lynch's stock price has also fallen. By the end of the morning, their shares were down another 10 percent.

Around noon. A terrible rumor began to circulate on Wall Street that the board of directors of the Kaminmen Brothers was planning to fire Dick. Fude. Although there is no way to verify the source of the source, the well-documented rumors have once again hit the Kaminari Brothers' share price, and by 2:20 a.m., the Kaminari Brothers' stock price fell by 15.7% again. Only $3.57 per share remains.

The same happened to Merrill Lynch and AIG, whose share prices took a hit. This made Paulson determined to solve the Kaminhamon Brothers problem once and for all this weekend. Otherwise, the U.S. market will be dragged down by this half-dead state.

……

The consortium participated in the meeting with bankers from Bank of America, Barclays, Merrill Lynch, AIG, JPMorgan Chase, Stanley & Company, Goodman & Co., Citigroup and others. Most of them are either CEOs or co-CEOs, or chairmen. In short, the top executives of the top American conglomerates gathered here, and the topic of discussion was how to save the Kaminami brothers.

These well-dressed guys packed the conference room, which could accommodate about thirty people. Naturally, the oval conference table is reserved for the big guys, and behind the table are the lower levels of management, such as the managing director in charge of mergers and acquisitions or transactions.

At the very center of the table, a few empty seats were reserved for Geithner and Paulson, among others. While waiting for Paulson, CEOs pulled out their BlackBerry phones to see if there was anything new coming out of the market. At a time like this, there is market-disrupting news every minute and every second, and CEOs have to keep an eye on news that may affect their stocks.

It's just a little strange, whether it's Dick Hawk, the chairman of the Kaminari brothers. Fude, or CEO Herbert. McDaunt didn't appear in this meeting. Before Paulson didn't show up, there was a lively discussion among bankers about it, but after Paulson showed up. All the sounds were gone. The bankers realized that the Kaminari brothers were "quarantined".

"The Kaminari brothers are very dangerous right now, and it can be said that they are on the verge of bankruptcy." Paulson glanced at the audience and continued, "In order to deal with the reaction of the market, and the shock to other institutions. We're going to have to get the Kaminhamon brothers done this weekend. ”

It's Friday, and if it's done this weekend, then there are only two days left for each family, which is too much of a rush. As soon as Paulson finished speaking, a muffled discussion erupted in the small conference room.

"I have to stress that," said Paulson, after the discussion had quieted down a bit, "the government is not going to provide money, and you have to solve all the problems on your own." ”

Nature. Paulson's words caused another uproar.

"Now there are two buyers in the market, both of whom have shown enough interest in the Kaminari brothers!" Paulson ignored the arguments this time and said to himself, "But based on their initial contact with the Kaminari brothers and the analysis of their balance sheets, the conclusion is that they need the help of the government or other agencies to complete the acquisition of the Kaminari brothers." It is unlikely that any single company will want to complete the acquisition of Kaminari Brothers on its own. ”

Although Paulson did not mention who was interested in the Kaminari brothers. But the characters here are all hand-eyed, and they don't know where they are Bank of America and Barclays. Especially Barclays' Bob. Damon. The Englishman stands out even more in the middle of a group of Yankees.

"There is no unanimous opinion within the government on whether to take action, but the parliament does not agree." Paulson was frank about the situation he was facing, saying, "You need to come up with a private solution to get rid of the Kamison brothers, and now you're responsible for the market." ”

"As unpleasant as it can be to help a competitor, it has to be said. If the Kaminari Brothers really finish playing, you will still taste this unhappiness, even more unhappiness than now. ”

Paulson finally threatened without a hint of a shadow.

As the former CEO of Goodman & Company, Henry. Paulson knew too well what the guys in this room were thinking, and Bank of America was one of them. But Ken. Lewis is rather mean, so there aren't too many people who want to help them. For Barclays Bank in the United Kingdom, not only them, but also HSBC, Standard Chartered or Deutsche Bank, etc., these banks have always been second-rate characters in the eyes of American banks, and it is at least psychologically difficult to accept to help them.

And helping them is equivalent to directly strengthening competitors and hurting their own interests, so CEOs are very worried. However, Paulson's words made them have to obey, because the other party did have a point, and if the Kaminari brothers really couldn't do it, it would have a severe impact on them.

"A question!" Goodman & Co. CEO Lauder. Bellakfan raised his hand at the right time and asked, "Since the issue of the Kaminari brothers is being discussed, then why is Dick. Fude, Herbert. McDart didn't come? ”

"They were excluded!"

Paulson had a sneer on his face, "They have no control over the fate of the Kaminari brothers, and I decided that it would be better for them not to attend, lest they make some jokes at the time." ”

Paulson did not hide his true emotions when he said this, and in fact, whether it was Bank of America or Barclays, they were not negotiating with the Reminmen brothers, but with the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. So the opinion of the Kaminari Brothers management is no longer so important. Just wait for them to make a decision and sign it.

At such an important moment, the lack of the head of the acquired agency seems unbelievable, but Paulson did it with the confidence and did not feel the slightest inappropriateness. You know, this meeting basically decided the fate of the Kaminarimen brothers.

Thinking of this, Wall Street CEOs couldn't help but feel a chill on their backs, this Treasury Secretary is really ......

They couldn't find the right words to describe the behavior.

"Sir, there's your number, it's from England." Just as everyone was secretly frightened, a staff member pushed the door in, leaned over Paulson's ear and said, "It's their Treasury Minister, Aristel . Darling. ”

Coming from the same rank, Paulson naturally did not dare to be careless. After glancing at Geithner, he said, "Sorry, gentlemen, I need to answer an important call." The meeting will now be resumed by Vice Chairman Geithner. ”

Paulson and Darling were not familiar with each other, and they had only met a few times in public meetings, and there was no personal relationship at all. So the two greeted each other on the phone without pain, and fell into an embarrassing situation where they had nothing to say. However, Paulson was well aware that the other party must have come for Barclays' acquisition of Kaminmen Brothers. (To be continued......)

ps: Thank you book friends Nanquan 99 and Xiaoqi Civilization Miracle for continuing to vote for the monthly ticket! It's still so deserted, I hope more book friends can support this book, thank you~