Fiat did not come out, the other big banks did not lend a hand, and the Ministry of Finance and the central bank continued to maintain a high-pressure posture, so that the situation of these dozen or so small banks deteriorated day by day, and the crowds of people lined up in the streets, and even other banks that were not among them were affected by this trend, and everyone rushed to find all the ways they could.

It's not that no one put pressure on the chancellor of the exchequer and the governor of the central bank, but they said what Mussolini meant, and then expressed the attitude of the state holding 25%, and it became clear to everyone - this time it was not only the coalition that wanted their lives, but Mussolini also took advantage of the chaos to rob, what else is there to struggle with?

On November 14, the United Group held a press conference to officially announce the 13th business segment of the United Group - the financial sector, with Leo as the head and the core management team including Francisco all unveiled, Leo elaborated on the development plan of the financial sector, saying that the United Financial takes the United Bank as the core, and integrates the five functions of banking, trust, insurance, securities and consumer credit for closed-loop operation.

Leo first announced that 20 million lire of student loans would be provided from now on, and a long list of schools was read out, and students from the listed schools could independently apply for student loans from Unicredit and repay them with their salaries after working. It is also possible for the school to apply jointly, and the joint group will provide a certain amount of operating fund guarantee for the school.

Since Unicredit has not yet been officially listed, students who need to apply separately can submit the application form and relevant information to the nearest United House, and the loan will be disbursed as soon as possible after verification and confidentiality will be promised.

The interest rate on student loans is set very low, with an annual interest rate of only 5%, and the period can be as long as 10 years - reporters can understand that this is not to make money, this is to support education and poor students, so this suggestion is still very interesting.

Leo then announced important news: in order to maintain market stability, effectively enhance the ability to resist risks, and strictly adhere to the "bottom line of no systemic risk", United Financial signed merger and acquisition agreements with 18 small and medium-sized banks and jointly initiated the establishment of United Bank. Although the specific terms of the negotiations have not been announced, it is still easy for senior reporters to find out the news: the United Group has contributed a total of 30 million US dollars, owns 85% of the equity of the new bank, and the remaining 15% of the shares are in the hands of the original small and medium-sized banks, more than 1%, less than 0.7%, of course they got 30 million US dollars.

The Union Bank will undertake the claims and debts of all the acquisition targets, and officially debut with a new image on January 1, 1925, and at the same time, the Union Group is ready to launch corporate bonds to the market, with a limit of 500 million lira and an annual interest rate of 6%, which will be underwritten by the Union Bank.

Just when everyone thought that this matter was basically over, the dazzling operation of United Finance had just begun:

On November 17, United Financial signed a contract with the Italian government to transfer a 25% stake to the Ministry of Finance for $10 million – a price that is a bit more expensive than the purchase price of the United Group, but the government has taken a big advantage, and the 25% stake is worth at least $16 million to $18 million at fair value. What's more, there is a grapevine that the government has no money to invest in the shares, and all the funds are temporarily owed to the United Group, and in the future, various scrapped equipment, land, mines and concessions will be used to repay the United Group.

Now everyone finally understands why the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Central Bank have a high-pressure posture, and the emotional government has long been eyeing this piece of fat and wants to take a bite, so it will not support these small and medium-sized banks at all - little Agnelli only then reacted to the old Agnelli's point to himself, and the emotional Contini and Mussolini have already negotiated the conditions, and if Fiat rushes out, it will be jointly hostile to the two parties.

Ginger is really old and spicy.

On November 21, United Financial signed an agreement with Citibank, agreeing to sell a total of 14 branches of two small banks in Milan and Rome to a rival for $5 million, so that the latter could form Citibank Italy.

Six days later, Union Bank, which has not even put out the official signboard, announced the completion of Series A financing: Citigroup, Chase Manhattan, and Bank of America jointly increased their capital by $30 million and obtained 24% of the equity of Union Bank after the share expansion, 8% each; The shareholding of other shareholders is reduced accordingly.

Union Bank was valued at $125 million at this time, and with a large amount of cash in hand, the run immediately subsided, and the Union Group did not say "no dealings", it has become its own bank, and all suppliers know very well that in the future, the lead bank must be placed in Union Bank, otherwise the priority of order acquisition will be lost.

Francisco had thought that the "de facto son-in-law" would end there, but he did not expect that Contini's appetite was much greater than his, and after getting the funds, United Financial quickly attacked other banks, and offered a high price of 3.75% on one-year deposits. From November 30 to December 9, in just 10 days, seven small and medium-sized banks in Venice, Naples, Verona and other places announced that they would be acquired because of the loss of deposits and the risk of a run.

On December 28, just after Christmas, the soon-to-be-listed Union Bank announced a Series B financing, and the three giants of BNP Paribas (BNP Paribas), Société Générale (Société Générale), and Crédit Lyon increased their capital by $45 million to Union Bank and obtained 21% of the equity, 7% each, but in just 1 month, The valuation of Union Bank rose from 125 million to 215 million, and as the valuation rose and the influx of money poured in, more small and medium-sized Italian banks collapsed and became branches of Union Bank.

With the entry of the financial system of the United States and France, the development of the Italian banking industry has attracted great attention from the British side, and the "Times" has written in a public article that the establishment and rise of the Union Bank and the introduction of foreign capital finally mark the opening of the door of self-isolation and adherence to tradition in the Italian banking industry...... The only thing that surprises us is that this time the change was actually triggered by an external disruptor in the financial industry like United Group, maybe in the future, we will have to pay more attention to cross-field competitors?

Francisco sniffed out something from this unusual attitude, and he immediately went to Leo to communicate, who said that he had just heard: it is reported that Antonio and the British side are negotiating to introduce HSBC Holdings, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Barclays Bank to jointly increase capital to Union Bank and achieve Series C financing.

"One more thing...... Leo said, "Calais told me that since the small and medium-sized banks have almost been acquired, the next step is to attack the big banks at the bottom of the rankings, and the first target he has set his sights on is the Bank of the South...... I hope you are prepared, of course, he is embarrassed to say this to you clearly, so I can only convey it. ”

No wonder the original loan of 200 million lira with 8% interest was so refreshing, and after the acquisition, it became its own industry, isn't this a left pocket to another pocket?

Francisco was surprised: "You know, although the Southern Bank ranks low among the big banks, he still has the relationship with the Pope, so he ......"

"Don't worry, Pope, Calais has a good relationship with the Pope, and the other party thinks that he can be trusted in his hands, and now that he is in Switzerland, the Swiss banker will be in charge of some of the Pope's private ......"

In fact, this is simply the two of them talking nonsense with their eyes closed, the Pope's extremely private finances even Francisco does not know, it has always been in Switzerland, and the public and semi-public funds are only in the Bank of the South, Contini went to Switzerland to talk about cooperation, others don't know, how can Francisco not know, this is for Vivian to inspect the residence, hospital and postpartum life to settle down! It's just that Contini was embarrassed to tell him directly, and through Leo's relay, his heart was hot, but he said: "Yes, yes, the Swiss banking industry is also quite developed, and it is necessary to take a good look." ”

Francisco thought that Leo didn't know the specific details of Contini and Vivian, but he didn't know that the other party already knew, but what if he knew, he could still poke it out in front of his father? So Leo could only understand that he was confused, and continued to talk to Francisco about the idea of the Swiss banking industry that neither of them believed, but he still talked about it with relish and nonsense.

He found that his acting skills had finally been upgraded......