May 13, 1982:
Hisense Bank branches across Hong Kong have been blocked by countless people. A large number of depositors would rather not go to work and crowd into the bank because they may have half their life's savings there. As many people who experienced the bank run crisis in the 1960s, nothing is more important than quickly withdrawing your deposits from the bank.
"Listen to me, everyone, our Hisense Bank has sufficient funds. What is in the newspaper has no factual basis. If you come to withdraw money at this time, it will only lead to the loss of all interest on your deposits." A middle-aged man in his 40s , holding a loudspeaker and shouting loudly.
It's just that although his voice was loud, no one listened to him at all. Everyone was squeezing in. A lot of police officers had been deployed at the nearby police station to maintain order, but in the face of those people who were eager to cry and cry for their mothers. , they can't do anything, as long as there is no stampede, they won't care. Even some police officers may have deposits in the bank.
In the Hisense Bank Building, Huang Changzan looked at the bustling crowd downstairs, his right hand trembling, and asked: "How much cash do we still have in the warehouse?"
"It's less than 50 million Hong Kong dollars, but we still have several hundred million in our account. I've communicated with HSBC to mobilize cash. HSBC promised to help, but even if their cash arrives, we won't be able to support it for much longer." Xie Hongbing looked at it Looking down, he also said in despair.
How can any bank survive a run? In particular, a large sum of money was specially loaned to Chen Zhiwen some time ago, otherwise, it would have been able to last longer now.
The current situation is that depositors no longer believe in Hisense’s checks, and even if the check is opened, other banks dare not admit it, because admitting it means taking the risk for Hisense, unless the cash is exchanged immediately, but this has nothing to do with depositors. There is no difference if you come to withdraw cash. Although the Independent Commission Against Corruption has not yet found evidence, since this matter has been investigated, even if the possibility is very low, other banks will avoid the risk. As time goes by, Hisense does not immediately prove its innocence, which increases the risk even more. .
"I can hold on as long as I can. Li Haonan has promised me to tell Chen Zhiwen about this. As long as I wait for Chen Zhiwen's help, everything will be fine." Huang Changzan said.
"Will Chen Zhiwen help us? Although some of our operations make it difficult for the Independent Commission Against Corruption to obtain evidence, investors do not need evidence. As long as there is a hint of possibility, there is no discussion." Xie Hongbing said with a frown.
"This is the only hope. Otherwise, what else can you do?" Huang Changzan said helplessly. Now we are in a desperate situation. Once they publicly admit to concealing bad debts or are found out by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the run will only be worse than it is now. Even worse, the entire Hisense Bank will collapse, and they can prepare to go to Stanley.
"Then we can only introduce Chen Zhiwen's funds at a low price." Xie Hongbing nodded and said.
Suddenly, the phone rang, and Xie Hongbing ran over quickly. Huang Changzan also looked in the direction of the phone. Any call at this time might be heaven or hell.
I saw Xie Hongbing take the phone. Within a moment, his face changed drastically, and then he put down the phone tremblingly. Huang Changzan knew it was not a good thing at a glance, and quickly asked: "What's wrong?"
"Ye Qiling was arrested. He was preparing to flee to Southeast Asia at the airport, but was caught by the airport special police." Xie Hongbing said with a pale face.
"What?" Huang Changzan almost lost his balance and hurriedly sat down on a nearby sofa. He took a few breaths and said, "Didn't we make an agreement with him that no one would move? Why did he suddenly want to Run away? And why are the airport special police arresting people? What evidence do they have?"
Although once he runs away, the fact of the crime is that he did not commit the crime, but the current law does not allow arresting people without evidence. Without evidence, even if Xie Hongbing is known to run away, he should not be detained Ah, after all, people can use the excuse of going abroad to discuss business.
"One of Ye Xiuling's subordinates also reported him. In the presence of two witnesses, the court urgently imposed restrictions on Ye Xiuling's departure from Hong Kong, including several of us. The person who just called was Sun Dazhuang. What he meant Yes, it is recommended that we surrender to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and explain the matter clearly. In this case, he will try his best to shift the main responsibility to the dead Zhang Mingtian. We are just accomplices, but it is difficult for us to get rid of the matter of concealing bad debts, but after all, we have just Taking over Hisense Bank can also get rid of some responsibilities. In this case, it may only take one or two years to join, perform well and operate a bit, and you may be able to come out within a few months of joining." Xie Hongbing said.
"How many months? Even if you go in for just one day, it is a shame for our family." Huang Changzan was so sad that he almost burst into tears. He was the only college student in the family. The entire family provided for him to go to college in the 1950s, and he entered Hong Kong after graduation. After working in Hisense for 20 years, he became one person with more than 10,000 people, and then took over the entire bank after the founder passed away. As a person who did not start his own business, this was basically the peak of his life. It would have been ten more years. He could also retire, but he didn't expect that he would still go in when he is old.
"But there are two other things that are more troublesome." Xie Hongbing said: "Once this matter is made public, the run will be more serious. Hisense may go bankrupt, or the Hong Kong government may take over. Once this happens, if major losses are caused, our responsibility will be greater. The sentence may be longer."
"You mean to ask HSBC to take over like Hang Seng did back then? But HSBC already has Hang Seng, and Hang Seng is much larger than Hisense. Shen Bi is now thinking about moving HSBC's assets overseas. How can it be possible again? Taking over the mess of Hisense, if you don’t have good control and don’t have a billion Hong Kong dollars, you can’t stop it.” Huang Changzan also regained his senses and thought carefully.
The penalties for economic crimes have a lot to do with the consequences. The most serious thing they do is conceal bad debts. It is not direct fraud and is a misdemeanor. However, if their actions cause the collapse of the entire bank and even Hong Kong's financial If the system is hit by a run, the courts will definitely impose harsher sentences.
Although the run has begun outside, Hisense can still hold on for a few more days. It is far from despair. If Hisense is sold to a big bank like HSBC at this time, the run problem can be stabilized immediately and everyone can Depositors can rest assured that in this way, the matter may end early. Of course, there is no absolute in this kind of thing, after all, if Hisense is also very large.
But HSBC’s current investment policy is obviously not in Hong Kong, so how could it be willing to take over Hisense?
"In Hong Kong, there is one person who is more persuasive than HSBC and can stabilize our depositors." Xie Hongbing said.
"You mean Chen Zhiwen?" There is only one such person in Hong Kong. Huang Changzan naturally understood immediately and said, "But Chen Zhiwen does not have a bank. Would he be willing to invest in a bank?"
"How do you know if you don't ask? For such a big industry, if there is another bank, wouldn't it be even more powerful? Even if according to the banking law, you cannot lend to your own company, the number of relevant partners is still very large." Xie Hongbing said .
"Yes, anyway, I was planning to let him buy shares at a preferential price to help us solve this problem, but now, in this situation, once Ye Qiling surrenders, we will no longer be able to manage Hisense, so why not give it all to Chen Zhiwen ." Huang Changzan thought for a moment and finally agreed.
Everything they did before was to enable them to continue to be in charge of Hisense Bank, including their decision to suppress the fraud incident. However, they lost the bet and the incident was exposed, and the Hong Kong government would soon be able to grasp the actual situation. Evidence, the only thing they can do now is try to avoid subsequent dominoes that will lead to more serious consequences.
"Will there be any problems with the board of directors?" Xie Hongbing asked again.
"It's probably too late to convene a shareholders' meeting now. I'll call them and they should agree. If Chen Zhiwen refuses to help, Hisense may go bankrupt in the future. Maybe they, the shareholders, will have to bear joint and several limited liability. If they If you have some brains, you will agree to this." At this last moment, Huang Changzan's thoughts became clear. It was so difficult before because they wanted too much, and they didn't want to lose too much, and they didn't want the Independent Commission Against Corruption to discover the evidence. But now Well, I just want my family to spend less time visiting the prison.
"Okay, I'll communicate with Sun Dazhuang again to see if we can find out what's going on at Ye Yuling's side." Xie Hongbing said.
"Well, let's do our own thing, and I'll contact Li Haonan again." Huang Changzan nodded and said.
Xie Hongbing added: "The second thing is the deal Ye Qiling had with us back then. If this thing comes out, we will be doomed."
Ye Qiling's check wheeling skills were not very high-end, and he was able to slowly defraud tens of millions of dollars. In fact, it was because of the internal problems of the bank.
However, at the beginning, it was not senior staff, but some middle-level staff, and the funds involved were not large. As long as there are no problems with Ye Qiling's investment, it can be made up for in the future. This is actually not abnormal. Many banks in Hong Kong have similar situations. Routine, for example, some banks will lend funds to borrowers that exceed the collateral. There must be some gray transactions, even for HSBC.
But Hisense Bank went too far and was still conducting transactions beyond the risk range. As a result, Ye Qiling failed to use the bank's money to invest, resulting in huge bad debts. However, both parties were already in the same boat, so they could only share the same Advances and retreats led to the subsequent incident of Hisense Bank concealing bad debts. I thought I could hide it for a long time, but I didn't expect to be reported suddenly.
"Ye Qiling threatened us with this before because he was afraid that we would call the police, but this time it was not our intention. If he had been smarter and only admitted to the check wheel fraud, his guilt would have been much smaller, but if Huilu was involved, he would have been jailed. Sit on the bottom and wear it." Huang Changzan analyzed it more confidently.
"Yes, he still bears the greatest responsibility for this matter." Xie Hongbing nodded and said.
Three days later, a breaking news broke. The chairman of the Dominican Finance Company, Yip Keiling, who specializes in providing immigration financial services to Hong Kong citizens, was arrested at Kai Tak Airport. Subsequently, after interrogation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, it was determined that he had Hisense Bank used the check wheel method to defraud more than 66.8 million US dollars in funds, and it has lost all of it. Hisense Bank also knew about this, but chose to conceal it by making false accounts.
When the news came out, Hisense Bank's share price immediately halved. At its peak, Hisense Bank's market value was about HK$4.5 billion. When news of the investigation came out more than half a month ago, it fell to nearly HK$3 billion. Now that it has been confirmed, it immediately It fell below 1.5 billion.
Hisense's tens of thousands of depositors in Hong Kong, after learning the news, ran to the bank to exchange cash desperately. The police station was also prepared, but soon found that the police force was not enough, because many police officers also deposited money in Hisense. Money.
As the third largest local bank in Hong Kong, there are many depositors all over Hong Kong. Many families will also put their funds in several banks due to factors such as risk and interest income. Hisense is also a priority.
Now, these people are all anxious.
Soon, Hisense Bank's cash ran out, and depositors were even more excited when they found out they had no money. In order to prevent things from getting out of control, the Hong Kong government quickly asked HSBC to provide emergency support of HK$500 million in cash. However, this was not a long-term solution. .
This has also put the Hong Kong government into a dilemma. Over the years, Hong Kong has been pursuing "free market" policies, especially the new Hong Kong Governor Edward Youde, who has just succeeded. At the same time, the Hong Kong government's fiscal revenue has also shrunk due to the poor real estate market. Spending a large amount of money to save a bank all at once, there is also a lot of internal opposition. The best strategy is to let the market solve the problem itself, that is, let other consortiums acquire it, and at the same time have enough financial resources to stabilize the situation.
On May 20, the Hong Kong Governor’s Office:
Governor Youde personally hosted a banquet for Chen Zhiwen.
"Mr. Chen, please sit down." Youde said with a smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Governor." Chen Zhiwen also politely replied. This is the second time he met with Youde. The last time was naturally when Youde first took office as the governor of Hong Kong, he hosted a banquet for all the richest people in Hong Kong. At that time, the two of them were just Just got to know each other.
"I have served as a diplomat on behalf of the British Empire around the world since the 1940s, and I have seen many business geniuses, but this is the first time I have seen such an outstanding person as Mr. Chan, who was originally preparing to succeed the governor of Hong Kong. At that time, I looked at the development process of Hong Kong over the past few decades, and I have to say that the emergence of Mr. Chen has raised the entire Hong Kong economy to a higher level." Youde praised.
"Thank you for the compliment. I just did what I should do." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile. Although most of his properties and main profits are in accounts in overseas tax havens, a small part remains in Hong Kong. It is enough to be of great help to a city, especially in the area of employment. Even in the current history of real estate development, although the general trend has not changed, it is also because of its capital investment that it is much stronger than in the original history.
Of course, a stronger one also means a bigger bubble. It’s hard to say whether the future will be good or bad.
"I know you Chinese like to be modest, but we British don't like it. A strong person should have the arrogance and attitude of a strong person." Youde said with a smile: "I'll just say it bluntly, I think about Hisense Bank. Chen Sheng, you also know. I wonder if you are interested in taking over Hisense Bank. In terms of policies, I can provide some to ensure your interests in the future? How about it? "
"What kind of policy?" Chen Zhiwen said with an unchanged expression.
In fact, Huang Changzan also told him through Li Haonan that Hisense's board of directors was willing to sell a majority of its shares before, but the offer was too high. It actually required the current market value minus a loss of HK$300 million. Chen Zhiwen had never thought of such a price. I refused directly after thinking about it, and ignored these people in the future. I just need to wait for the matter to ferment. The market value of Hisense Bank will definitely drop off a cliff, and it will not be too late for me to take action.
I just didn't expect that Youde would actually come forward to discuss this matter with him, and it would be more convenient if he could get some policy support.
(End of chapter)
