In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 614 announces the privatization of Bank of East Asia!

As the gathered citizens gradually left, traffic around Central gradually returned to normal.

Lin Haoran's car drove smoothly from Kangle Building to the headquarters building of Bank of East Asia.

After getting out of the car, he saw many reporters still waiting outside the building.

When they saw Lin Haoran, the reporters immediately wanted to rush over to interview him.

However, dozens of bank security guards had already prepared for the interception.

Since taking over the Bank of East Asia, Lin Haoran has directly replaced the security systems of all branches and even the head office.

The ones he replaced were naturally the security guards from his own global security consulting company. They were his own people, so he felt more at ease.

Especially at the headquarters, those who are sent here are the elite among the security guards.

"Boss, the Governor is waiting for you in the VIP reception room." Dashan had already come to the car and personally opened the door for Lin Haoran.

Lin Haoran nodded, and with a smile, he simply greeted the reporters who wanted to interview him: "Dear journalist friends, please wait a moment. I will go in and talk to the Governor first. After that, we will hold a press conference. Please wait patiently!"

After hearing Lin Haoran's words, the reporters who still wanted to break through the security line to interview Lin Haoran suddenly quieted down.

Lin Haoran hurried into the bank's headquarters building and soon arrived at a reception room on the 5th floor.

Here, one must have financial business transactions of at least tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars with the Bank of East Asia to be eligible to come here for meetings and negotiations.

When the Li Peicai family still controlled the Bank of East Asia, it was Li Guobin or even Li Fushu who would personally negotiate cooperation with these important clients here.

So, this negotiation room is very luxurious.

The decoration of the negotiation room is noble and elegant. The crystal chandelier casts a soft and bright light, which is reflected on the exquisite carpet and carved wooden furniture. Every detail shows extraordinary taste and style.

There are several priceless works of art hanging on the walls, adding a touch of cultural atmosphere.

Lin Haoran walked in, and Governor Mai Lihao, who was sitting on the sofa, also stood up and shook hands with Lin Haoran.

"Mr. Lin, long time no see!" Mai Lihao said with a smile.

"Long time no see." Lin Haoran also felt a little emotional.

If you think about it carefully, the two of them haven't met to discuss anything for quite a long time.

Since Lin Haoran went to Japan on business a few years ago, and returned today, half a year has passed in a blink of an eye.

The two of them sat on the sofa and chatted politely with each other. Finally, Mai Lihao got the topic back to the point.

"Mr. Lin, given the current situation of Bank of East Asia, as the current boss of Bank of East Asia, you can't just let it continue like this. Do you have any solution?" Mai Lihao looked directly at Lin Haoran and asked in a straightforward tone.

"Mr. Governor, I believe you also know that this matter was instigated by Huifeng Bank. The mandatory two-choice competition initiated by Huifeng Bank clearly violated the principle of fair competition and caused great damage to the market order and customer rights.

What do you think of the behavior of Huifeng Bank? Will the government take further regulatory actions or take any other measures? In dealing with the behavior of Huifeng Bank, I also hope to maintain close cooperation with the government to jointly maintain the stability and healthy development of Hong Kong's financial market. "Lin Haoran directly turned the tables.

Originally, Lin Haoran just wanted to be a behind-the-scenes boss and let Li Fushu and others continue to run the Bank of East Asia for him, without interfering with Huifeng Bank.

However, Huifeng Bank not only took the initiative to provoke Bank of East Asia, but also took ruthless measures, hoping to make Bank of East Asia completely lose its foothold in the fiercely competitive market.

However, the Governor's Office never made any statement from beginning to end.

Lin Haoran naturally understood the reason. After all, the Governor's Office and British companies were in the same boat. Britain had made countless amounts of money through Hong Kong by relying on the Hui Feng Bank. It was natural for them to favor the Hui Feng Bank.

Aren’t colonies meant for exploitation and plunder?

It’s just that no one has spoken about it openly.

"Mr. Lin, I understand your difficulties, but the laws and regulations in Hong Kong in this regard do not explicitly prohibit such competition between banks. Although Huifeng Bank's methods are radical, it can still justify itself on the surface.

In terms of supervision, the government also needs to follow the existing legal framework and act prudently to avoid causing unnecessary legal disputes and international pressure, so we should not interfere too much in this matter.

However, as the Governor of Hong Kong, I do not want to see the Hong Kong financial sector in such a disorderly and competitive situation. I can ask Mr. Shen Bi to sit down with you and have a good talk. What do you think, Mr. Lin?"

Mai Lihao frowned slightly, his tone seemed to carry a hint of helplessness, but it also revealed the official position.

Lin Haoran sneered in his heart. He naturally understood that what Mai Lihao said was just an excuse. There may be gray areas in the legal provisions, but the attitude and inclination of the government are the key.

Strictly speaking, Huifeng Bank's practice is not really taking advantage of loopholes. There are definitely clauses and targeted punishments, and the government's ambiguous attitude behind this is undoubtedly a disguised form of connivance.

If such unfair competition had been initiated by Chinese companies against British companies, the Governor-General's Office would have been brought to its knees long ago.

However, he did not refute directly. Although he was right, if he really wanted the Governor's Office to change its mind and make them truly fair and just, he would undoubtedly be asking for trouble.

Want fairness in the business world?

This is impossible.

He smiled and said, "Mr. Governor, I understand the government's difficulties, so since Huifeng Bank launched unfair competition, I have not asked you for help. After all, the business world is like a battlefield, and competition is the norm. It's just that Huifeng Bank's methods this time were too bad and exceeded the scope of normal commercial competition.

However, I also understand that the government has its own considerations and rules. If the government intervenes rashly at this time, it may not only fall into complex legal disputes, but also cause the outside world to question the government's neutrality in commercial competition.

In the current situation, I feel that there is nothing to discuss with Mr. Shen Bi. I have not launched any unfair competition against him. Even if we sit down to talk, I am just forced to make concessions.

Mr. Governor, to be honest, after facing the storm of unfair competition from Huifeng Bank, I actually had the idea of ​​giving up the Bank of East Asia, especially when Mr. Li Fushu said he wanted to withdraw from the Bank of East Asia.

The financial market of Hong Kong may seem prosperous and bustling, but in fact it is controlled by the Bank of East Asia. This is why I have not taken any action against the Bank of East Asia. As the largest shareholder of the Bank of East Asia and also the shareholder who has suffered the most losses, the shareholders are making a fuss, so why shouldn’t I want to join in the fun?
So, Mr. Governor, you asked me if I have any solution to save the Bank of East Asia. To be honest, I don't have any. If I were to ask how to save the current situation of the Bank of East Asia, I think the simplest solution is for the Hong Kong Bank and the Hong Kong Banking Association to stop unfair competition against the Bank of East Asia. In this way, the current situation will naturally be resolved. "

There are two things that Mai Lihao wants to solve now. One is the trouble caused by the shareholders of Bank of East Asia, and the other is the trouble caused by the depositors of Bank of East Asia.

As for the competition between him and Huifeng Bank, it is obvious that the other party has no intention of intervening. Even if Bank of East Asia is beaten to death by Huifeng Bank, they are unwilling to intervene. This is a very realistic thing.

"I wonder if Mr. Lin has any idea of ​​selling Bank of East Asia. If so, I can make the decision and let Huifeng Bank acquire Bank of East Asia. In this way, the problem can be solved." Mai Lihao said directly.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Governor, I have no intention of selling my shares in Bank of East Asia. I can afford to lose more than a billion Hong Kong dollars. How can I let Huifeng Bank buy out the bank when they treat me like this?

Bank of East Asia is not my private enterprise, but a listed company. Even if it goes bankrupt, I do not need to bear unlimited joint and several liability. So even if Bank of East Asia eventually goes bankrupt, I do not plan to sell my shares! "Lin Haoran shook his head meaningfully and refused!
He knew exactly what Mai Lihao was thinking, but how could he let Huifeng Bank take advantage of him?
What he wanted was for MacLeod to take the initiative to let him privatize the Bank of East Asia.

In this way, Bank of East Asia will be able to get rid of many constraints, and he will launch a counterattack against Huifeng Bank.

Now, he is just the controlling shareholder of Bank of East Asia. It is impossible for him to spend too much energy to deal with Huifeng Bank while other shareholders take advantage of the ready-made bargains.

But this certainly cannot be said explicitly.

Hearing Lin Haoran's answer, Mai Lihao couldn't help feeling annoyed.

He has promised those citizens who gathered to cause trouble that he would resolve the matter as soon as possible, but if Lin Haoran does not resolve the matter, those citizens who caused trouble will sooner or later gather again, and the scale is likely to be even larger than the last time.

By then, public pressure and political risks will surge upon him like a tide, making his position as governor precarious.

Now, Lin Haoran is unmoved and is obviously unwilling to spend too much time and energy on the Bank of East Asia, and even less willing to hand over the Bank of East Asia to Huifeng Bank easily. This puts Mai Lihao in a dilemma.

Mai Lihao narrowed his eyes slightly, revealing a hint of displeasure, but he could do nothing about Lin Haoran's plan.

If it was an ordinary businessman, he could use his status as governor to put pressure on him.

But Lin Haoran is not an ordinary person. He not only controls many giant Hong Kong companies, but also has considerable influence in the Hong Kong business community. He even has huge investments overseas. All these make Mai Lihao have to be cautious.

He couldn't help but sink into deep thought, carefully thinking about what Lin Haoran had just said.

Suddenly, he thought of what Lin Haoran said, that Bank of East Asia was not his private enterprise, so he did not plan to invest too much in Bank of East Asia. In addition, when Lin Haoran acquired other companies in the past, as long as they could be privatized, they would be privatized.

So, if Lin Haoran privatizes Bank of East Asia, wouldn’t the shareholders’ problems be resolved?
In addition, after the privatization of Bank of East Asia, the other party must definitely solve the problem of depositors withdrawing cash.

So, how can Lin Haoran privatize the Bank of East Asia? As long as Lin Haoran privatizes the Bank of East Asia, everything will be solved.

After a while, he looked up and said to Lin Haoran: "Mr. Lin, since you don't plan to sell the shares of Bank of East Asia, in my opinion, Bank of East Asia is not without any value. As far as I know, Bank of East Asia has very good overseas development potential.

With Mr. Lin's current abilities, even if Bank of East Asia gets into trouble due to competition, if it can be privatized, you can carry out drastic reforms and adjustments to fully tap its overseas potential and achieve longer-term development.

Moreover, after privatization, you will have absolute control over the bank's decision-making and operations, and will no longer be subject to the various restrictions of a listed company and the pressure from external shareholders. This may not be a bad thing for you."

Mai Lihao paused, observing Lin Haoran's reaction, and then continued: "From the government's perspective, we also don't want to see a bank with such a history and scale as Bank of East Asia go into decline.

If you are interested in privatization, the government can provide certain support and convenience within the scope of policy to help you complete the privatization process smoothly. In this way, the problems of Bank of East Asia may be solved more thoroughly, the concerns of shareholders and depositors can be eliminated, and the financial market can be restored to stability. "

Hearing this, Lin Haoran smiled secretly in his heart. He was actually guiding Mai Lihao to take the initiative to privatize the Bank of East Asia, but he didn't expect that the other party would take the bait so quickly.

If he directly initiated the privatization of Bank of East Asia, it would appear very deliberate.

This will definitely cause great dissatisfaction and resistance among the numerous shareholders in Hong Kong, and may even trigger a new round of public opinion storm, questioning his impure motives for the acquisition and deliberately suppressing the share price of Bank of East Asia, so as to swallow the "fat meat" of Bank of East Asia at a very low price.

But the situation was completely different when it was proposed by Governor-General MacLehose and hinted at government support.

In this way, he could not only cleverly resolve the outside world's suspicion of his motives, but also use the government's influence to pave the way for the privatization process and reduce many unnecessary obstacles.

Lin Haoran pretended to be in deep thought, tapping the armrest of the sofa with his fingers.

After a moment, he slowly said: "Mr. Governor, the idea you proposed is novel and indeed worthy of consideration. If the Bank of East Asia can be privatized, I am indeed willing to pay more for the Bank of East Asia, which will also make it easier for me to show my strength and reshape this bank according to my ideas.

However, privatization is not a trivial matter. Due to the unfair targeting of Huifeng Bank, I had not considered this matter before. There are many links and interests involved. I need some time to carefully weigh the pros and cons. "

Seeing this, Mai Lihao knew that this matter had a chance, so he stepped up and said, "Mr. Lin, the stock price of Bank of East Asia is not high now. If you privatize Bank of East Asia, the cost will not be very high.

Moreover, in the long run, under your leadership, the privatized Bank of East Asia will surely be revitalized and rejuvenated. This is a rare opportunity for both you and Bank of East Asia.

As long as you agree now, I will immediately ask the relevant government departments to fully cooperate with you, simplify the process and provide convenience for you within the framework permitted by policies and regulations, and ensure the smooth progress of the privatization process. "

"Well, since the Governor has said so, I will do him a favor and proceed with the complete acquisition of the Bank of East Asia. However, I have a concern that I must tell you frankly.

If I rashly push forward with the acquisition on my own, shareholders will become suspicious and mistakenly believe that I am deliberately suppressing the stock price in an attempt to seek personal gain.

By then, the public will speak out loudly, and I really can't bear this unwarranted stigma!" Lin Haoran said solemnly, expressing his worries without reservation.

What he wanted was for MacLehau to come forward. In this way, his privatization of the Bank of East Asia would not be his personal intentional act, but a request from the Governor's Office.

In the public opinion field where everyone is discussing the issue, he can still be justified and investors cannot put all the blame on him.

Hearing this, Mai Lihao breathed a sigh of relief, a barely perceptible smile appeared on his face, and he quickly said, "Don't worry, Mr. Lin, I will come forward to clarify the matter for you. Now that the reporters are outside, I can explain this matter clearly to the reporters. What do you think?"

"Okay, with what the Governor said, I have nothing to worry about." Lin Haoran nodded slightly, a barely perceptible smile on the corner of his mouth. He was waiting for Mai Lihao to say this.

The two exchanged a few brief words about the arrangements for the subsequent press conference to ensure that the information was conveyed accurately and to avoid causing new misunderstandings and disturbances.

Afterwards, Lin Haoran stood up and asked Dashan to arrange the press conference.

At the same time, he also called Dai Shi and asked him to organize people to buy all the shares of Bank of East Asia that were below HK$6 as soon as possible!
At this moment, it was already past three in the afternoon and the stock market was close to closing.

There are too many orders for Bank of East Asia. If the news of his privatization of Bank of East Asia comes out, many people will start to withdraw their orders and wait and see the situation, or even raise the price before making a move. Therefore, they must race against time to buy as many low-priced stocks as possible before the news is officially announced.

Anyway, the privatization of the Bank of East Asia was requested by the Governor-General's Office, so he could act with confidence.

As for the losses of shareholders, it has nothing to do with him. If anyone wants to blame someone, just blame Huifeng Bank.

He will announce all the poor operations of Huifeng Bank later!

He wanted to completely ruin the reputation of Huifeng Bank in Hong Kong.

Although this may not have much impact on Huifeng Bank's performance, he, Lin Haoran, can take this opportunity to stand above justice.

And Huifeng Bank is the villain.

It's not his fault that he cheated these shareholders. He had no idea of ​​privatization in the first place. Lin Haoran was forced into this situation.

Therefore, under the manipulation of Galaxy Securities employees, before the press conference even started, Lin Haoran increased his holdings of Bank of East Asia shares by more than 30 million shares.

At this point, the number of Bank of East Asia shares he held has exceeded 100 million, and his shareholding ratio has exceeded 70%.

At noon, the gathering and rioting were a big deal, so everyone's orders were not cancelled because of Governor MacLehose's speech.

Many investors who had just returned to the stock exchange were stunned when they saw the sudden surge in trading volume and were completely unable to react.

No one knows what exactly happened.

Orders above HK$6 were not accepted, so many people withdrew their orders and wanted to place new orders at a higher price.

As a result, traders from the four major stock exchanges began to get busy again.

However, these people's actions are doomed to be in vain.

Outside the headquarters building of Bank of East Asia, many reporters arrived during the time that Lin Haoran was here.

Now, there are as many as two to three hundred reporters who have arrived here. Basically, all the major news media in Hong Kong have sent reporters here.

After all, the incident was such a big deal at this time that the whole of Hong Kong was paying attention to it, and they naturally all wanted to get first-hand news.

Twenty minutes later, at a makeshift press conference in the building, Lin Haoran and Mai Lihao walked out side by side. The spotlights flashed non-stop and the sound of shutter clicks rang out one after another.

TVB and ATV also started live broadcasting at this moment.

At this moment, many citizens are watching this live broadcast.

“Dear journalists, I have good news for you. After discussing with Mr. Lin, I have successfully found a solution. After my persuasion, Mr. Lin decided to privatize Bank of East Asia.

In this way, the problem of stockholders being unable to sell their stocks will be effectively solved. In addition, with Mr. Lin's personal capital injection, the problem of depositors withdrawing cash can also be solved. "Mailihao stood in front of the reporter with a smile on his face, taking the credit for himself, and his words showed his determination and confidence in solving the problem.

As soon as Mai Lihao finished speaking, there was an uproar at the scene.

Lin Haoran privatizes Bank of East Asia?
This……

Before this, no one had ever thought about this.

This was indeed beyond everyone's expectations.

Since the TV station was broadcasting live, the stock exchange also got the news quickly.

At this moment, everyone realized that Lin Haoran was planning to privatize Bank of East Asia.

Suddenly, those retail investors who were trapped at low prices, expecting the stock price to rebound, and had orders higher than HK$6, felt like they had grasped a life-saving straw, and the light of hope rekindled in their eyes.

Those shareholders whose shares were suddenly acquired by Galaxy Securities were now beating their chests and stamping their feet, slapping their thighs in regret.

They felt as if they were being tricked by an invisible hand and being taken advantage of by someone with ulterior motives.

In their opinion, someone must have known the inside information in advance, so that they could buy up shares so accurately before the news was announced, causing ordinary investors to suffer huge losses.

For a moment, the exchange was filled with complaints and sighs, as people were upset by this sudden change.

The scene was in chaos.

At this moment, Mai Lihao had already handed the microphone to Lin Haoran.

(End of this chapter)