Friday, April 5.

A week after receiving the review report, the Bank of England took decisive action and joined forces with the relevant authorities of Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands to seize the bank and freeze its assets around the world on the same day.

The news reached Xiangjiang, triggering a wave of runs on China Commercial Bank (Hong Kong), and the deposit decreased by 320 million on the same day!

In the evening of the same day, officials of the Hong Kong Banking Regulatory Commission held a news media conference and said that the root cause of the 'state-owned businessmen' incident was not in Hong Kong but overseas, and that Hong Kong's 'state-owned businessmen' were independent 'operating' and their operations were 'perfect and feasible', and there was no need to suspend business.

For a while, many media did not suspect it, and planned to follow the words of the CBRC officials to carry out the news layout for the next day.

The next day, Saturday.

While all the media was reporting positive news, Hong Kong's authoritative Economic Times published 'negative news'.

Its professional economists and commentators sharply pointed out three counter-arguments:

First, the official remark that the company is 'operating independently' and 'not under the influence of the parent company' is completely irresponsible, which shows that the CBRC officials lack due understanding of international financial operations.

Second, if Hong Kong officials agree with the CBRC's claims, why not issue a statement of 'foreign exchange guarantee' to dispel depositors' concerns.

Third, the Heung Kong International Commercial Bank should be immediately seized to prevent assets from being transferred overseas.

For a time, it became all the media except the "Economic Daily" Hard Steel Wanhui Media Group, which surprised many people.

The Hong Kong government held a press conference yesterday in the hope that through the media, it will appease the depositors of state-owned businesses and the entire financial sector of Hong Kong. It stands to reason that the media only needs to convey the words of the Hong Kong government.

Now I didn't expect that the "Economic Daily" directly questioned the Hong Kong government, which had the meaning of asking the teacher to ask for guilt.

Morning.

Li Bingqiang is a big customer of China Commercial Bank, and he has saved 2 million yuan in China Commercial Bank because he is in the catering business. Originally, he didn't consider the cooperation of the State Commercial Bank, but the interest rate of the State Commercial Bank was a little higher than that of others.

It's just that he didn't expect that he learned from the news last night that there was a run on the National Commercial Bank, which shocked him. His business is not big, and 2 million is almost a large part of his cash. He is still counting on the money to be taken out to buy a property when it expires!

"Boss, bring me a copy of the Hong Kong Economic Journal?" Li Bingqiang said urgently.

Hong Kong Economic Journal is the No. 1 financial magazine in Hong Kong, so Li Bingqiang wanted to learn about the situation from above.

"In front of you, take it yourself!" The newsstand owner pointed in front of Li Bingqiang.

Li Bingqiang looked at it, and sure enough, in front of him, he was so nervous that he didn't see it!

After paying the money, Li Bingqiang immediately watched it, and when he saw the words of the Hong Kong government relayed by the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Li Bingqiang suddenly became enlightened and had a false alarm.

"Let's go to the door of the National Commercial Bank and have a look!" Li Bingqiang had a heart, after all, he was in business and didn't need to ask for leave.

When he came to a national commercial bank in Central, he was stunned and there was already a long queue.

"Brother, the Hong Kong government said that everything is normal with the State Commercial Bank, why do you still have to withdraw money, you are not afraid of discounted interest!"

The queue person said unhappily: "You also believe what the Hong Kong government says, you see this is the point of view of the Economic Daily, they say that it is impossible for Xiangjiang national businessmen to be alone!" Besides, I just need to keep my capital, interest or something, I don't care! ”

"Ah, show me!"

The queue thought that they were in front, and they were not afraid of multiple competitors, not to mention this kind of thing, everyone must work together, so they casually handed the newspaper to Li Bingqiang.

This didn't matter, Li Bingqiang was frightened into a cold sweat, and hurriedly joined the queue.

"The Hong Kong Economic Journal is not reliable at all, not professional at all, and almost mistook me for a big thing, so let's read the Economic Daily in the future!" Li Bingqiang said to himself.

There are two flowers, one on each branch.

Officials from the Financial Secretary and the Banking Regulatory Office also urgently began to hold meetings, and they had planned to use the weekend to urgently communicate and contact the UAE government, so that the UAE government, which is the majority shareholder of the bank, would provide financial guarantees and inject capital, so that there would be no crisis for the Hong Kong bank.

And they did not close down the State Commercial Bank, but also hoped that there would be no run on the Bank of Hong Kong.

Of course, the misjudgment of these officials is also a large part of the reason.

The secretary of the financial secretary, Zhai Kecheng, is a British, he does not understand Chinese, and only heard from his assistant that a large number of depositors have gathered at the entrance of the National Commercial Bank, ready to withdraw money.

"What's going on? Haven't we already made announcements and suggestions, how can we squeeze things out and still happen? ”

Zhuo Shengcai, commissioner of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, relayed all the articles published in the "Economic Daily" to Cui Kecheng.

Cui Kecheng's face suddenly changed, and he said dissatisfiedly: "What's the matter with them? I wonder if this will cause the entire run on the Bank of Hong Kong? ”

Although he was angry, he could not do anything about the actions of the Economic Daily, because this is a freedom of the press, especially in Xiangjiang, and it is impossible for the Economic Daily to be targeted, which will cause confrontation among the entire media, and even overseas media will support it.

However, the remarks of the "Economic Daily" also reminded some financial and banking regulatory officials.

The deputy director said: "I think we should pay attention to it and immediately send a team to the headquarters of the China Commercial Bank again, so that they cannot be allowed to transfer funds overseas." At the same time, step up contact with the UAE government and be sure to get them to give a clear statement. Whether they inject capital and guarantee or not is related to the fate of the State Commercial Bank this time! ”

Cui Kecheng also reacted, nodded and said, "Okay! Everyone is in good spirits, and we must not let this matter spread to other banks, affecting the entire Hong Kong banking community and the exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar! ”

After some arrangement, the Financial Secretary and the CBRC worked overtime to deal with the matter.

In this way, the banking community in Xiangjiang was terrified for two days over the weekend, for fear that the squeeze would continue to their heads.

There was always a long queue at the entrance of the National Commercial Bank, and the bank's cash was quickly squeezed out.

Monday, April 8.

In the morning, all major media in Xiangjiang published that the Xiangjiang government had ordered the State Commercial Bank to close down and accept the closure.

The reason was that the Abu Dhabi government, the majority shareholder, did not agree to financial support and that ICBC had deactivated all credit cards issued by the CNB Group.

For a time, public opinion in Xiangjiang was in an uproar.

Because most people still believed the words of the Hong Kong government and did not go to the National Commercial Bank to withdraw their deposits. Furthermore, the Hong Kong Government has stated that the Exchange Fund is not prepared to guarantee the State Commercial Bank.

Suddenly, they were furious!

A large number of depositors went to the Government House to petition, staged a sit-in at the bank, protested, and even marched in the streets to obstruct traffic.

Their actions have won the sympathy and support of the public and public opinion, who condemn the Hong Kong government's vacillating policies, 'misleading' the public, and undermining the credibility of the government. If the closure is carried out at the beginning, the damage may be minimized.

At the same time, the Economic Daily became the highest-selling professional newspaper in Hong Kong on the grounds that it had conducted an impartial report.

After the UAE government refused to inject capital and guarantee from the state-owned businessmen, there were only three ways to deal with the 'state-owned businessmen' incident:

1. The use of the Exchange Fund to acquire or inject capital into state-owned enterprises is the first requirement of depositors. Since the 80s, the problems of the Bank of Hong Kong have been taken over or guaranteed by the Exchange Fund. However, when the Hong Kong government seized the state-owned enterprises today, it said that it would not consider using the Exchange Fund on the grounds that it would be unfair to taxpayers to use public assets to save banks affected by the incident outside Hong Kong, and that the 'state-owned businessmen' incident did not affect the stability of the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate.

1. Find a suitable buyer for the bank, which is more willing to be accepted by depositors. Because the assets and liabilities of the state-owned company are sold by the buyer, the depositor can get back the full amount of the deposit. On the same day, Zhuo Shengcai, an official of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, also said that two consortia expressed their intention to take over the State Commercial Bank.

3. Liquidation. This is what the depositors are most opposed, and the depositors petition to the demonstration, that is, they do not want the state business to be liquidated. After the liquidation, there is a certain order in which the assets of the bank are allocated: first, the debts with priority, such as all expenses required for the liquidation, employee salaries/benefits/severance pay, statutory debts owed to the government; The second is secured debt; Finally, there is the depositor's money, and in general, the depositor only gets part of the money, and it takes several years to get it.

After more than a week of unsuccessful search for a buyer, the Financial Secretary announced at a meeting of the Legislative Council on April 17 that it had applied to the High Court for the liquidation of the National Commercial Bank. The Hong Kong government is prepared to advance HK$2 billion to release 30% of depositors (up to a maximum of HK$500,000).

When the news broke, depositors waiting outside the Legislative Council were immediately agitated, and some even rushed to Queen's Road to sit on the road and block traffic to vent their dissatisfaction. In the end, the J side used force to clear the scene, and several arrests were made before traffic was restored.

At the same time, the liquidation of the State Commercial Bank had an impact on banks with Middle Eastern backgrounds, and Dao Heng Bank and Gangbase Bank (formerly Sun Hung Kai Bank) all had runs; Even Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank have begun to be run.

As things fermented, Lin Zuhui knew it was time for him to play!

He set up a team of consultants for the first time, which is composed of financial professionals from family offices and Hengjin Investment. However, he has not moved, although as early as April 8, the China Banking Regulatory Commissioner Zhuo Shengcai revealed to the media that two consortiums are very interested in acquiring the State Commercial Bank and are expected to reach the acquisition.

However, Lin Zuhui knew that without the exchange fund to guarantee the bad debts of the 'China Commercial Bank', no one would dare to buy it.

He's different, he's a novice, and it's right to pay a tuition.

But he didn't intervene at the first time, because he still planned to be a 'white knight', 'fight for favor' in front of the citizens of Xiangjiang, and the money would be stored in his bank in the future.

The Financial Secretary only applied for winding-up, and the High Court would give a 'provisional winding-up' time, so Lam Cho-fai was completely in time.

Heroes, always come at the most critical time!

Lin Zuhui took a number of advisers and entered the Financial Secretary.

The secretary, Zhai Kecheng, was a British, and he greeted everyone with officials from the Financial Department and the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

They never thought that Lin Zuhui, the richest man in China, would be interested in the 'National Commercial Bank'. And Lin Zuhui's main business is real estate, so he doesn't worry about being snubbed by the bank!

After everyone sat in the conference room, Zhai Kecheng said: "Mr. Lin, to be honest, I was surprised, I didn't expect you to be interested in China Commercial Bank!" ”

Lin Zuhui said 'hypocritically': "I can't bear to let the depositors' money take several years to get it back, so I suddenly moved this idea." ”

The people in the conference room suddenly looked at each other, there are still such kind capitalists in this world?

Zhai Kecheng said with a smile: "Mr. Lin is worthy of being a philanthropist!" ”

His term of office is about to expire, and the occurrence of such an incident will inevitably affect his reputation. If someone takes over, why not!

Lin Zuhui said: "So, we need to understand the specific situation of the State Commercial Bank, are the materials ready?" ”

Zhai Kecheng gestured, and then Zhuo Sheng, the commissioner of the banking regulatory commission, took out a document and gave it to Lin Zuhui's advisers.

Lin Zuhui took the time to say: "According to an investigation by a reporter under my banner, there are still billions of unrecorded debts overseas of the State Commercial Bank, I wonder if you have reviewed it?" ”

Suddenly, the people of the Financial Secretary and the Banking Regulatory Office showed incredible expressions.

Zhai Kecheng said honestly: "Since it is an unrecorded debt, how do the reporters under Lin Sheng know?" We didn't find any on our side! ”

Lin Zuhui said: "This has to be kept secret! Because the reporter learned that two overseas reporters may have died suddenly because of the investigation, he no longer dared to show his face. Besides, the State Commercial Bank must have this kind of illegal borrowing overseas, I believe you can also guess it, but the creditor has not jumped out yet! ”

Zhai Kecheng nodded and said, "We did have a guess, but we still won't make an exception to vouch for you!" ”

Lin Zuhui frowned, and then said: "I believe that the Hong Kong government does not want to see this matter like this, it is still in the stage of provisional liquidation, and the Hong Kong government is also willing to see someone buy the National Commercial Bank, right?" ”

"Having said that, the Exchange Fund does not serve as a guarantee, which is the opinion of our Hong Kong Legislative Council. Moreover, if the Exchange Fund is willing to guarantee, the previous consortiums may have reached an agreement with us! ”

Lin Zuhui smiled bitterly, and then did not speak.

Soon, several consultants told Lin Zuhui about the review, and Lin Zuhui suddenly hesitated.

The amount owed to the outside depositors is 6.666 billion, and the 2 billion taken out by the Hong Kong government is a loan, which means that if all the money is withdrawn to the depositor, he needs to be in debt of 6.666 billion, which is not counting the unrecorded overseas loans that may spring out of 2 billion.

In fact, what Lin Zuhui didn't know was that in his previous life, it was a deposit of 8 billion, and the Hong Kong government took out 2.5 billion and only accounted for 25%. That is, detonating this mine in advance reduced the losses by more than a billion.

Of course, the assets of the State Commercial Bank also have a lot, such as loans, properties, banking networks, etc., which are worth about 5 billion, including some bad debts (old lai).

It seems that it is only a loss of 1.666 billion, but the bad debts may reach more than 1 billion, plus 2 billion unrecorded loans that may spring out from overseas, it really needs nearly 5 billion.

Lin Zuhui remembered that it seemed that in the previous life, the Chinese Bank was in the provisional liquidation period and intended to acquire it; As a result, he was frightened by the unrecorded loan of up to 2 billion and retreated at the last moment.

However, Lin Zuhui did not plan to retreat.

Of course, he naturally did not agree to the acquisition immediately, but said goodbye to Zhai Kecheng and others.

It is normal for this kind of acquisition to be negotiated for several months, and Zhai Kecheng and others still have great hopes, after all, if Lin Zuhui intends to enter the bank, he may really want to do this kind of 'stupid thing'.