In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Why is it that the deposit funds of Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank have increased significantly even though the number of branch offices has not increased?

The reason is actually very simple. In addition to the tellers' faster service speed, the most important thing is that the number of large deposits has increased significantly today.

According to statistics from the two major banks, Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank, the highest deposit today is as high as 20 million Hong Kong dollars, and the number of deposits above 1 million Hong Kong dollars has increased several times compared with the past.

The total number of customers actually served did not increase much, but the amount of single deposits rose sharply, which undoubtedly became a key factor in the surge in deposit funds.

It turns out that since the announcement was released, citizens, business owners and some small investors who already had a certain amount of cash reserves realized that the window period for high-interest deposits was about to close.

As a result, they concentrated the funds that were originally scattered in other banks or investment channels and deposited them in Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank to obtain higher interest returns.

For them, it is easy to lose money on other investments in an uncertain market economy.

Therefore, it is better to deposit the money in the bank. The high interest rate of Bank of East Asia is a rare opportunity to increase wealth and should not be missed.

Even some bosses of small and medium-sized enterprises, considering the uncertainty of the current economic environment, feel that instead of investing funds in higher-risk projects, it is better to deposit them in banks, which can not only ensure the safety of funds but also obtain considerable interest income.

They integrated the company's idle funds and deposited them in the form of large-value time deposits in Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank, adding a sense of stability to the company's fund management.

There are also some small investors who originally had some involvement in the stock market, fund market and other markets, but due to the recent large market fluctuations, the returns have not been ideal.

After seeing the high-interest deposit policies of Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank, they decisively withdrew their funds from these markets and invested in bank time deposits instead.

In their view, this stable income method is more reliable in the current market environment.

In the past, if faced with customers with deposits of several million or tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars, the deposit interest rate was not low, and over 4% was normal.

Because Hong Kong's real estate industry had been booming before, with a large volume of housing transactions and a lot of mortgage business, in this situation, when absorbing large amounts of funds, they would naturally be treated differently and given higher interest rates.

But things are different now. The development of the real estate industry has begun to slow down, transaction volume has begun to decrease, and mortgage business has also shrunk.

The funding needs of many banks for mortgage business are no longer as urgent as before, and the high-interest strategies previously set to attract large deposits to support mortgage business have also been adjusted accordingly.

Therefore, in Hong Kong's banking industry, basically all major banks have adjusted their deposit interest rates, and the original preferential treatment for high deposits has gradually been cancelled.

At this moment, the 5% interest rate is enough to attract those large deposits to transfer to Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank.

These factors are the reasons for the sudden and substantial increase in deposits of Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank today.

In any case, this is good news for Bank of East Asia.

After all, in just five days, it absorbed a total of HK$98.85 billion in deposits, which is close to HK$100 billion!

This was because we had not yet acquired Daoheng Bank two days ago and only had 20 branches of Bank of East Asia, which made it impossible to provide services.

After the acquisition of Daoheng Bank, the effects of resource integration and business synergy between the two parties began to emerge, injecting new impetus into the further growth of deposit funds.

Next, there are only 4 days left to absorb deposit funds. If the remaining four days are like today, and the funds absorbed every day exceed HK$200 billion, then in just nine days, the total amount of deposits absorbed by Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank will easily exceed the HK$ billion mark.

It is hard to imagine that a strategy of simply raising interest rates could bring so much new funds to his bank.

Unfortunately, it was restricted after all. Otherwise, with the current customers' enthusiastic response to high-interest deposits and the flow trend of market funds, the scale of deposits absorbed by Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank would be far more than this.

However, Lin Haoran was also very satisfied.

If the goal is achieved, then out of the 20 billion Hong Kong dollars in deposits, at least more than 15 billion will come from Hong Kong Dollars Bank and Hengsheng Bank. This will undoubtedly be a beautiful and extremely lethal "heavy punch" for him to seize the market share of Hong Kong Dollars Bank.

Today, the relationship between Bank of East Asia and Huifeng Bank has almost reached a life-and-death point.

It can not only increase the market share of Bank of East Asia, but also reduce the market share of Huifeng Bank, thereby narrowing the gap between the two parties. It is simply killing two birds with one stone.

……

In the blink of an eye, another night passed.

The time has come on January 7st.

In the morning, Lin Haoran woke up from a deep sleep, and Guan Jiahui was sleeping next to him.

This girl is almost becoming a strong woman recently. She founded a high-end women's clothing brand and opened chain stores one after another. She said she wanted to build her own business empire and make a name for herself in the fashion retail field.

Lin Haoran naturally supported this, since Guan Jiahui could hardly live without him in her life anyway.

Almost all of the stores opened by Guan Jiahui now are located in some high-end commercial buildings under the Hong Kong Land Group, such as Landmark Plaza, Connaught Building, Alexandra House, Prince's Building, etc.

If she wants to build a high-end brand, she is bound to rely on these high-quality commercial carriers with considerable traffic.

What's more, even if you have higher achievements in business, can you be higher than him?
Lin Haoran's action of standing up obviously alarmed Guan Jiahui.

She opened her eyes dazedly and looked at Lin Haoran who was sitting up beside her. She said in a lazy and coquettish voice, "Brother Haoran, good morning."

Lin Haoran smiled and turned his head, gently pinching her cheek: "I woke you up, if you are still sleepy, go back to sleep, I will be out first, you get up and drive to the company by yourself."

The two of them went crazy until late at night last night. Even now, Guan Jiahui's face is still flushed. Although the pleasure last night made her body and mind extremely satisfied, the physical fatigue at this moment still made her unable to help but shrink into the quilt again.

"Brother Haoran, I'll take a nap for a while. You go about your business and don't overwork yourself." Guan Jiahui said as she lay on her side and fell asleep again, but she would open her eyes from time to time to look at Lin Haoran who was getting up and getting dressed.

In fact, Guan Jiahui seldom goes to the villa on Shi Xun Road. Basically, if Lin Haoran doesn’t call her, she will still go back to the apartment in Hengfeng Building.

Yesterday, Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank attracted deposits of more than 3 billion Hong Kong dollars. Lin Haoran was in a good mood, so he called Guan Jiahui to come to the villa on Sze Hoon Road in the evening.

Guan Jiahui naturally obeyed unconditionally, and she also hoped to spend more time with Lin Haoran.

Lin Haoran got up, washed up simply, and went downstairs to have breakfast.

As for Guan Jiahui, her clothing chain store is now growing in size and has already recruited many employees.

Not only is each store equipped with a professional store manager, but a clothing brand company has also been established to coordinate and manage the affairs of each store.

She appointed herself as the chairman of the board and hired a general manager to assist her with daily management, so that she no longer had to worry too much about the many matters related to store operations.

When people see her outside, they have to call her Director Guan!

Today, Guan Jiahui's main job every day is to inspect each branch to understand the actual operation status of the store;

Or they may look for new branch locations, continue to expand the number of branches, and further expand the brand scale.

Guan Jiahui is bright and beautiful, with delicate facial features and a perfect figure. Adding on her age of less than 20 years old, she is likely to attract a lot of men.

However, she was in the women's clothing business, and the bigwigs in the industry basically knew her identity, so no one dared to take advantage of her.

Compete with Lin Haoran for a woman?
Only a crazy person would do such a stupid thing to seek death.

Lin Haoran was eating breakfast while reading the newspaper.

The high interest rates of Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank, as well as bank runs at major banks, are still headlines in many newspapers.

However, an article in the Hong Kong Business Daily caught his attention.

"Yesterday, there was a big news from the financial circle that there was a major personnel change in the senior management of Hengsheng Bank. It is reported that Ho Sin Hang, chairman, founder and leader of the Hang Seng Index compiler of Hengsheng Bank, has officially submitted his resignation letter to the board of directors.

It was rumored that he had already planned to retire, and his resignation at such a critical moment was unexpected to many people. Once the news came out, it instantly caused an uproar in the industry.

Reliable sources have revealed that the board of directors of Huifeng Bank currently intends to arrange for its executive director Mr. Pu Weishi to temporarily take over the position of Ho Shanheng, while the position of Mr. Smith, general manager of Hengsheng Bank, will remain unchanged.

Currently, Mr. Ho Sin Hang is busy with the handover of his duties, and the subsequent progress of related matters has attracted much attention from the market. "

I didn't expect that this matter would be leaked so quickly?
Lin Haoran was a little surprised.

However, there was no big surprise.

Although the news of He Shanheng's resignation was leaked in advance, it was unexpected but also reasonable. After all, the financial circle is a well-informed and complex place.

Logically speaking, Ho Sin Hang's resignation will definitely have a significant impact on Heng Sheng Bank, especially as competition in Hong Kong's banking industry is now fierce and Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank are constantly sucking blood from other banks with high interest rates.

It can be said that as the second largest bank in Hong Kong, Heng Seng Bank has lost a huge market share during this period.

Hengsheng Bank is at a critical development juncture. The departure of a core figure like He Shanheng will undoubtedly cause unrest within the bank and may also cause the strategic direction to waver.

It is conceivable that once Ho Shan-heng leaves, many customers will become suspicious and their confidence in Heng Sheng Bank will be greatly reduced.

Customers who originally chose Hengsheng Bank based on their trust in Ho Sin Hang's personal ability and credibility may now re-examine their financial arrangements.

In this way, some funds may eventually flow into Bank of East Asia!
However, everyone still thinks that Ho Sin Hang chose to resign only because of his age, and no one would have thought that the reason for Ho Sin Hang's resignation was to switch to the competitor, Bank of East Asia.

If this news were to leak out, it would definitely cause a huge sensation in Hong Kong.

After all, this is Ho Sin Hang! This legendary figure in Hong Kong's financial world created the glory of Hang Seng Bank and is the leading compiler of the Hang Seng Index. His influence has long surpassed the bank itself and plays a pivotal role in the entire financial field.

His every decision and every move touches the hearts of countless people.

Although Hengsheng Bank was affected by the bank run that year and had to be acquired by Huifeng Bank, Ho Sin Hang's position was not greatly shaken. He still had a very high voice in Hengsheng Bank and was highly respected in the entire Hong Kong financial industry.

If he really jumps to Bank of East Asia now, it would undoubtedly be like dropping a bombshell on the calm surface of the lake, and the entire Hong Kong financial community would be shocked.

Lin Haoran was becoming more and more excited. He wondered whether Shen Bi and others would be shocked when the Bank of East Asia announced that Ho Shanheng would be the new chairman.

After reading the newspaper, he glanced at the wall clock. The hour hand pointed to half past eight, so he went out and headed for Kangle Building.

Yesterday, he finalized the meeting with Walter Reston, chairman of Citibank. Both parties agreed to have a meeting with this legendary figure in the global financial industry at 9 o'clock this morning in Lin Haoran's private reception room in the Kang Le Building.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Walter Reston, led by the staff of the Recreation Building, arrived at his reception room very punctually.

"Mr. Walter Reston, how are you doing in Hong Kong?" Lin Haoran shook hands with him and said with a smile.

"Very good, Mr. Lin, thank you for your hospitality. Hong Kong is a very prosperous city, a bit similar to New York. I like it very much." Walter Reston laughed heartily.

In fact, at first Lin Haoran wanted to visit Walter Reston in the United States in person, with the aim of getting Bank of East Asia to work together with Citibank, and by the way, using Citibank's prestige in the industry, get Huifeng Bank to cancel the unfair "choose one of two" agreement.

However, after learning that Walter Reston was coming to Asia and would also come to Hong Kong, Lin Haoran gave up his plan to go to the United States.

Today, Bank of East Asia has relied on its own strength to not only defeat Huifeng Bank, but also proactively canceled the unfair "choose one of two" agreement.

Therefore, Citibank and Bank of East Asia no longer play a key role.

However, establishing a deep cooperative relationship with such an important bank in the global financial field will undoubtedly have a huge driving force for the future international development of Bank of East Asia.

In addition, Lin Haoran had previously collaborated with Citibank on many occasions, all of which were very pleasant.

Therefore, he still plans to carry out in-depth cooperation with Citibank.

He no longer needs to rely on any bank for the Hong Kong market, but internationally, the role of Citibank in his market cannot be ignored.

After all, Bank of East Asia is indeed very strong in Hong Kong, but its international foundation is still too weak and its influence is still very small.

It is unclear how long it will take for Bank of East Asia to have the same global influence as Citibank.

After all, even Citibank took more than a hundred years to develop and lay the solid foundation it has today and occupy a place in the global financial landscape.

If Bank of East Asia wants to catch up, it still has a long way to go, so for a long time in the future it will still have to rely on Citibank to do things that it cannot do or that are difficult for it to do.

"I heard that Mr. Lin recently acquired a bank. Not only that, he also defeated your local financial tycoon without any chance of fighting back. The young are really formidable. It looks like the financial world will welcome a new upstart!" He congratulated with a smile after a female assistant brought Walter Reston a cup of hot coffee and left and closed the door.

"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Walter Reston. This is just a local bank in Hong Kong. Even the Huifeng Bank is not worth mentioning internationally. Only international financial giants like Citibank are truly worthy of admiration and learning." Lin Haoran responded modestly.

This is indeed the case. Walter Reston was not at all worried about Lin Haoran, an important partner, suddenly entering the banking industry.

After all, Walter Reston didn't really think highly of Hong Kong's banks.

Although Hong Kong has giants like Bank of Hong Kong, Bank of Hong Kong has almost no presence after leaving Hong Kong.

Although, Haifeng Bank acquired an American bank a few years ago, this Haifeng Bank is only the 13th largest bank in the United States, and the gap in strength between it and Citibank is huge.

Not to mention the even weaker Bank of East Asia.

In Walter Reston's view, it is not so easy for Bank of East Asia to develop into a well-known international bank.

Therefore, internationally, the cooperation between Citibank and Lin Haoran will remain unchanged as long as they maintain their previous relationship.

As for the business in Hong Kong?
The business proportion of Citibank's Hong Kong branch in the entire Citibank system is not large, and the Hong Kong branch has not cooperated with Lin Haoran many times, so there is no need to pay too much attention to it.

Moreover, to some extent, Lin Haoran's stirring up of the Hong Kong banking industry may even bring some new business opportunities to Citibank in Hong Kong.

"Mr. Lin, I came to Hong Kong this time to discuss a very important matter with you." Before Lin Haoran brought up the cooperation between Bank of East Asia and Citibank, Walter Reston spoke first.

"Oh? Mr. Walter Reston, please go ahead." Lin Haoran became curious about the important things the other party said.

"Mr. Lin, the situation is this: Citibank plans to launch a new round of financing in the near future, during which time it will offer 10% of its equity and cooperate with three important consortiums from California, Texas, and the United Kingdom.

The financing price is quite favorable, about half lower than the current market price. In view of your strong financial strength, Mr. Lin, and the close cooperation relationship as an important customer of Citibank, on behalf of Citibank, I sincerely invite you to invest in Citibank and become a member of the board of directors. What do you think of this, Mr. Lin? "Walter Reston solemnly extended the invitation.

Lin Haoran was surprised to hear that the important thing Walter Reston was talking about was to invite him to become a shareholder of Citibank.

He couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Walter Reston, as far as I know, Citibank should not be short of funds, right? Why does it have a financing plan?"

As the world's leading international bank, Citibank holds assets of an unimaginable scale.

Such a strong bank is actually going to carry out a new round of financing?
This really exceeded Lin Haoran's expectations.

“Mr. Lin, Citibank does have ample funds, but the key to becoming the world’s largest multinational bank is that we always attach importance to in-depth cooperation with major global financial groups.

Only by incorporating various financial groups into the shareholder camp and building a solid community of interests can cooperation become more solid, lasting and in-depth, and Citibank's leading position in the world can be further consolidated.

This financing plan is based on such a strategic layout." Walter Reston explained with a smile.

After hearing this, Lin Haoran suddenly understood.

This can be explained.

Why Citibank has been able to maintain its leading position in the world, the strategic vision and layout behind it are indeed worth further exploration.

Walter Reston's words undoubtedly revealed to Lin Haoran a corner of the secret of Citibank's success.

Isn’t Huifeng Bank also learning from Citibank’s behavior?

At the beginning, not long after Lin Haoran rose to prominence, Shen Bi invited him to become a shareholder of Huifeng Bank.

He also knew that Huifeng Bank's shareholders were almost all over the world, involving many important global financial groups.

And now, Lin Haoran's asset strength can be ranked among the top in the global financial groups.

In addition, Lin Haoran has cooperated with Citibank many times, and he has already become one of Citibank's important clients.

Such status and relationship are enough for Lin Haoran to make Citibank include him as a new shareholder to further consolidate the cooperative relationship between the two parties and strengthen Citibank's global position.

Although Lin Haoran was surprised by Walter Reston's invitation, he agreed very readily.

"Mr. Walter Reston, I am very happy to accept your invitation. I wonder how much I can invest?" Lin Haoran asked with a smile.

Su Zhixue and others are currently secretly purchasing some very promising stocks for him in New York, USA, including shares of Citibank.

However, it is not easy to acquire Citigroup's shares. It took more than a year to acquire 4% of Citigroup's shares.

Therefore, if he could take this opportunity to acquire more Citibank shares at a price half lower than the market price, it would undoubtedly be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Lin Haoran would naturally not miss it easily.

“Mr. Lin, this financing plan is still in the preparation stage. However, in view of the close and good cooperative relationship you have maintained with Citibank over the years, as well as your outstanding achievements and extraordinary influence in the business world, on behalf of Citibank, I have decided to provide you with a 3% stake in the total shares for this financing.

But there is a key condition that needs to be stated in advance: these 3% of shares will be frozen for ten years, and you cannot sell them a second time during this period.

If you can accept this condition, Mr. Lin, we can sign the relevant agreement immediately. "Walter Reston stared at Lin Haoran sincerely and attentively, his eyes full of expectation, quietly waiting for his reply.

3%?

Lin Haoran was a little surprised.

It took the Universal Investment Company led by Chen Zhixue more than a year to acquire 4% of Citibank's shares. One can imagine how difficult it was to acquire Citibank's shares without being discovered.

Now it has increased by 3%, which means that the shares of Citibank he holds have reached 7%, which is a leap-forward growth.

As far as he knows, the current largest shareholder of Citibank only holds 6.72% of the shares, right?

Citigroup has too many shareholders and they are too dispersed, so even 7% is a considerable number.

This means that once he raises funds for Citibank, wouldn't he become the bank's largest shareholder?

What a surprise. What a surprise.

Of course, Lin Haoran also knew that this shareholding must not be exposed at the moment.

Otherwise, Walter Reston would have to be wary of him. (End of this chapter)