In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 658: A capital scale of HK$1000 billion, with a market share of 44%!

The conditions proposed by Bank of East Asia are extremely demanding, like asking for the moon, and Standard Chartered Bank is unlikely to agree to them easily.

Given this situation, it is highly unlikely that the two sides will be able to reach an agreement in just one or two days.

However, Lin Haoran didn't care at all.

In his view, neither Huafeng Bank nor Standard Chartered Bank now possesses the strength to compete with Bank of East Asia in Hong Kong's financial industry.

Therefore, even if Standard Chartered Bank were to acquire Huafeng Bank, he would not be worried at all.

The Bank of East Asia's confidence stems from its founder, Hong Kong's richest man. With his numerous subsidiaries, the Bank of East Asia remains rock-solid and invincible.

In contrast, even though Huafeng Bank once dominated the financial world and reigned supreme in Hong Kong, it was ultimately defeated by Bank of East Asia and left with no chance to fight back.

Since Huafeng Bank has already failed due to his scheme, even if Standard Chartered Bank acquires Huafeng Bank and takes its place, Bank of East Asia can still rely on Lin Haoran's overwhelming power in Hong Kong's business world to firmly control the key to Hong Kong's financial industry and occupy an important position in Hong Kong's financial sector.

Lin Haoran was well aware that the Governor's Office would never allow him to monopolize Hong Kong's financial industry; a monopoly was absolutely impossible.

In this way, Standard Chartered Bank's takeover of HSBC's market is merely adding a new piece to the chessboard of Hong Kong's financial industry.

This piece may stir up some waves and create a temporary uproar in the short term, but as long as Lin Haoran, Hong Kong's richest man, remains standing and his foundation is solid, the position of Bank of East Asia will be as unbreakable as a rock and as stable as Mount Tai.

……

Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and it was July 25th.

Today is Friday, and the stock market opened as scheduled.

Although the Governor's Office intervened in time to temporarily halt the sharp decline in the share price of Huafeng Bank, without substantial positive news to support it, the share price is unlikely to gain significant upward momentum.

Therefore, Huafeng Bank's market capitalization is now fluctuating around HK$90 billion, which is about one-third of its peak market capitalization of over HK$260 billion. Its former glory is gone.

Because of Standard Chartered Bank's sudden intervention, although no decision has been made yet, Lin Haoran knows that the other party will definitely not miss this opportunity.

At that point, barring any unforeseen circumstances, what other methods will Standard Chartered Bank use to cause Huifeng Bank to collapse, and then seize the opportunity to acquire it?

At that point, the stock price will definitely collapse further.

Therefore, Lin Haoran temporarily instructed Dai Shi to suspend the plan to acquire Huifeng Bank shares.

Nevertheless, Galaxy Securities has already acquired approximately 3.2% of Huifeng Bank's shares.

However, this small loss was of no consequence to Lin Haoran, and he didn't care at all.

Anyway, the share price absorbed by acquiring 3.2% of the shares is not high.

In just two days, although the Governor's Office intervened to help calm the emotions of Huifeng Bank's customers, and everyone began to believe that Huifeng Bank would not fall into a desperate situation of broken capital chain, the run on the bank was also quelled. However, many customers still chose to transfer all their funds out of Huifeng Bank as a precaution.

After these funds flowed out, customers naturally tended to deposit their money in what they considered the safest bank – Bank of East Asia.

As a result, Bank of East Asia's branches saw a new surge in customers, with savings deposits continuing to rise and business showing a steady growth trend.

Hong Kong's financial industry has unexpectedly fallen into a rare state of tranquility today.

Lin Haoran flipped through the day's newspaper in the morning, pondering to himself.

Apart from Oriental Daily News continuing its coverage of Huifeng Bank's developments, other mainstream media outlets seemed to have reached a tacit agreement to stop mentioning Huifeng Bank.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Huifeng Bank must have spent a huge sum of money to smooth things over and silence these media outlets in order to block the news and quell public opinion.

After all, while Huifeng Bank has always acted domineeringly, how could it have kept so many mainstream media outlets silent and stopped digging deeper into its story without sufficient incentives?

As for the Oriental Daily News, everyone in Hong Kong knows that the newspaper's owner is Lam Ho-yin, and it's impossible for him to be bribed by Lam Ho-yin's competitors.

After having breakfast and reading the newspaper, Lin Haoran took a car to the headquarters of the East Asia Bank.

As Lin Haoran passed by Des Voeux Road Central, he noticed a shop on the first floor of Landmark Plaza that was under intense renovation. The shop sign had already been installed and read "Bank of East Asia," indicating that it was a branch of Bank of East Asia that was about to open.

In front of the shop, numerous boxes that had just arrived were neatly stacked, filled with all sorts of banking machines and instruments, including equipment for the advanced British BACS transfer system.

Currently, all branches of Bank of East Asia have successfully completed the installation of the BACS transfer system.

However, the transfer function is not yet available to the public as the system has not yet undergone full testing.

However, it is foreseeable that once the transfer system test is successfully completed, East Asia Bank will be able to provide employees of Lin Haoran's various companies with convenient transfer-based salary payment services.

At that time, Bank of East Asia will gain a large number of new customers.

Although some employees may initially feel somewhat dissatisfied with this "mandatory" transfer method, they will develop a sense of dependence and belonging to Bank of East Asia's services over time.

After all, the Bank of East Asia is no longer the Bank of East Asia it once was, and its gradual replacement of Huifeng Bank's position will certainly make these employees feel more secure.

Over time, these customers will naturally become loyal supporters of Bank of East Asia.

As Bank of East Asia's market share continues to grow, its original number of branches has clearly become insufficient.

Despite the acquisition of Dao Heng Bank, its main business is now concentrated in Bank of East Asia.

Therefore, the number of branches of Bank of East Asia urgently needs to be increased.

The car finally came to a smooth stop in the underground parking lot of the East Asia Bank building.

Taking the elevator, Lin Haoran quickly arrived at the chairman's office.

Inside the office, He Shanheng was engrossed in writing something with a fountain pen.

Upon seeing Lin Haoran enter, he finally raised his head and put down his pen.

"Haoran, you've come at the perfect time! I have some good news for you!" He Shanheng said with a hearty laugh.

"Oh? Let me guess, could it be that Standard Chartered Bank has finally made a new move?" Lin Haoran asked with a slight smile.

"Haha, you guessed wrong this time. I won't hide it anymore. Mr. Guo Henian, Mr. Liu Luanxiong, Mr. Shao Yifu and other business tycoons, as well as your elder brother and the others, have all transferred the funds of their companies or individuals from Huifeng Bank to our East Asia Bank."

In just the last two days, the Bank of East Asia's capital has increased by HK$286.4 billion! If nothing unexpected happens, the Bank of East Asia's capital in Hong Kong has now completely surpassed that of HSBC.

Even if you include Hengsheng Bank, the two of them combined would still have to admit defeat in terms of capital scale! He Shanheng laughed excitedly, his eyes full of pride.

"Oh? I remember it was HK$273 billion before, am I right?" Lin Haoran frowned slightly, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

“That’s right, the total amount of funds transferred by those dozen or so business tycoons is indeed HK$273 billion,” Ho Sin-hang quickly explained, a confident smile on his face.

"However, Huifeng Bank has been quite impacted by this incident. Many customers are hesitant and have chosen to withdraw their funds from Huifeng Bank and transfer them to our Bank of East Asia. In the past two days, these customers have brought more than HK$1 billion in new funds to our bank!"
Huifeng Bank did not dare to stop these people from transferring funds, because they were in a sensitive period. If they refused customers' requests to transfer funds, it would likely trigger market panic again, causing a run on the bank to return, and the situation would be completely out of control.

So they could only watch helplessly as funds flowed out in large quantities, with nothing they could do. He Shanheng shrugged, his face full of schadenfreude.

Upon hearing this, a look of understanding flashed in Lin Haoran's eyes.

"So, what is the total amount of funds at our East Asia Bank right now?" Lin Haoran asked curiously.

"Including Dao Heng Bank, our capital scale has exceeded HK$100 billion, reaching approximately HK$1041.7 billion, which can be described as the most impressive in the entire Hong Kong financial industry!" He Shanheng said with a smile as he handed a data report to Lin Haoran.

"That's over HK$100 billion!" Upon hearing this, Lin Haoran took the data report handed to him by He Shanheng, feeling extremely pleased.

The data reports clearly display the most detailed financial situation of Bank of East Asia, including total capital size, lending scale, investments, cash reserves, and so on.

The previous Hong Kong financial data report released by Global Research showed that Bank of East Asia's capital scale had exceeded HK$750 billion.

In fact, the exact figure for the Bank of East Asia's capital at that time was approximately HK$755.3 billion.

The fact that Global Research could deduce such accurate figures based on limited data is truly astonishing, demonstrating its professional expertise and keen insight in the field of financial data research.

If we set the timeline to the 21st century, it's not surprising that research companies use advanced methods such as supercomputers and AI data models to infer data and arrive at such accurate results.

However, this was in the early 20s, when computer technology was still relatively underdeveloped, and data research relied more on close collaboration among professional teams and traditional technical methods.

That's why Cui Zilong showed great interest in Huanyu Research Company at the time.

Lin Haoran naturally did not object to the acquisition and immediately instructed Cui Zilong to begin the acquisition process for the company.

The final result was that Universal Research was acquired for a mere three million Hong Kong dollars.

From then on, Universal Research Company became a subsidiary of Oriental Press Group. "Yes, who would have thought that our Chinese-owned bank could break through the HK$100 billion mark in capital, surpassing Huifeng Bank, the dominant force in Hong Kong's financial sector that had held the top position for many years."

Even now, I still feel like it's a dream, and I can hardly believe it's real!" He Shanheng said with a face full of emotion and his tone was full of amazement.

In Hong Kong's financial industry, especially in the banking sector, Huifeng Bank is a near-monopoly.

Hong Kong's financial sector boasts hundreds of banks and corporations, leading to fierce competition.

Despite this, just two months ago, Huifeng Bank and its subsidiaries were able to monopolize 60% of the market share, and even hundreds of other financial companies combined could not compete with Huifeng Bank!
It is easy to imagine how high Huifeng Bank's status was in Hong Kong before.

Whenever finance is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is Huifeng Bank.

But now, Bank of East Asia has surpassed it, which is simply unbelievable and like a fairy tale!
"I wonder how much capital Huifeng Bank has left now?" Lin Haoran asked curiously.

"They don't release the data, and we don't know either. However, based on the data of Huifeng Bank in the report released by Huanyu Research Company, we can roughly guess that the current capital scale of Huifeng Bank and its subsidiaries should be less than HK$750 billion!"

In other words, we have completely left Huifeng Bank behind, achieving a major breakthrough for Chinese-owned banks in Hong Kong's financial history. He Shanheng's tone was full of emotion and pride, as if he had personally witnessed the birth of a legend.

Lin Haoran nodded slightly, his gaze deep, as if he were contemplating the distant future.

"Yes, this leap forward is not only a numerical victory, but also an affirmation of the strength and strategy of our East Asia Bank! If we can successfully bring Hengsheng Bank under our control, our capital scale will surely reach new heights."

"By then, even if Standard Chartered Bank successfully acquires Huafeng Bank, it will be no match for us. In that case, our Bank of East Asia will firmly hold the top position in Hong Kong's financial world, and that will be a sure thing!" Lin Haoran laughed heartily.

Although Standard Chartered Bank has not yet responded, they are clearly in a dilemma.

Lin Haoran's side naturally wouldn't urge them, otherwise it would only make them seem guilty and anxious, thus losing the initiative.

He knew that patience and composure were often the keys to victory in business competition.

As for Standard Chartered Bank's eventual decision not to cooperate with them?

Both Lin Haoran and He Shanheng thought it was impossible.

Standard Chartered Bank cannot bypass Bank of East Asia when it wants to acquire Huafeng Bank.

Because unless Huifeng Bank is facing a life-or-death situation, the forces behind it would never sell it off.

Moreover, Standard Chartered Bank's attempt to stab HSBC in the back and cause it heavy losses would not have been possible without the cooperation of Bank of East Asia.

This is why Standard Chartered Bank took the initiative to meet with Lin Haoran and seek cooperation.

It can be said that Bank of East Asia is now in a very stable position, and only needs to wait for Standard Chartered Bank to make its decision.

No matter how Standard Chartered Bank weighs the pros and cons, it will ultimately find it difficult to escape the fate of intersecting with Bank of East Asia.

He Shanheng sat behind his large desk, his fingers lightly tapping the surface, his eyes revealing a confident and strategic mind.

At this moment, he was happy with his decision to join the Bank of East Asia.

This is definitely a wise choice.

Running a bank with funds exceeding HK$100 billion was something he would never have dared to dream of before.

At its peak, Hang Seng Bank's capital was only a little over HK$20 billion.

Today, the size of the bank under his management has increased several times over.

Although no organization has compiled statistics, based on this amount of funding, it should rank among the top 30 in the world!

Moreover, based on his current understanding of East Asia Bank, the scale of this fund will only continue to grow!
Whether it's the highly likely acquisition of Hengsheng Bank or the payment of employee salaries via bank transfer, these are all means to further increase the capital size of Bank of East Asia.

"Standard Chartered Bank's UK headquarters is probably arguing fiercely about this acquisition, probably countless times. I really hope they can make a decision soon. As for Huifeng Bank, we have no chance of acquiring it; the Governor's Office definitely won't agree."

"Since that's the case, why not take advantage of Standard Chartered's ambitions and bring us some real benefits? I'm hoping for a result soon. I've made all the preparations for the acquisition of Hengsheng Bank perfectly!" He Shanheng couldn't help but sigh.

Hengsheng Bank was founded and painstakingly managed by him. If he could regain control, he would be overjoyed and would naturally do everything in his power to push forward the acquisition.

Even if the acquisition is ultimately successful, the owner of Hengsheng Bank will still be Lin Haoran, not him. However, as a professional manager, he is already very happy to be able to continue to lead Hengsheng Bank.

Lin Haoran smiled slightly, his eyes filled with confidence: "Just go ahead and prepare for the Hengsheng Bank matter. East Asia Bank has ample funds and strong financial backing, so acquiring Hengsheng Bank is not a problem at all."

Standard Chartered Bank probably won't delay much longer, as they understand that missing this opportunity will make it extremely difficult to achieve anything significant in Hong Kong's financial industry again.

Just then, Lin Haoran's mobile phone suddenly rang.

Lin Haoran glanced at the phone number; it was Cui Zilong calling.

"Hello, Mr. Cui, what's up?" Lin Haoran answered the phone directly in front of He Shanheng.

"Boss, it's like this, we have something that requires your approval, so we're reporting it to you," Cui Zilong said.

"Okay, what's up?"

Cui Zilong reported in a clear and organized manner: "Here's what happened: Mr. Yu from Huanyu Research Company, based on the data he had previously obtained and combined with the recent developments of East Asia Bank and Huifeng Bank, led his team to conduct another in-depth calculation and arrived at the latest market share analysis results."

As you know, Huifeng Bank previously blocked Huanyu Research, forcing them to sell the company to us, so Mr. Yu harbors resentment towards Huifeng Bank.

He plans to release another report on Hong Kong's financial industry, partly to retaliate against Huifeng Bank's previous suppression, and partly to enhance the reputation of Global Research within the industry.

Mr. Yu believes that the report will provide an in-depth analysis of the current changes in the Hong Kong financial market, especially the ebb and flow between Bank of East Asia and HSBC.

He believes the era of two dominant players is over, and a new landscape has emerged with one superpower, one strong player, and several weaker players. This will undoubtedly spark widespread discussion, and Huifeng Bank will inevitably suffer another major blow, while our Bank of East Asia will be able to enhance its industry prestige.

This time, we don't plan to hold a press conference. Instead, we will publish the report in the Oriental Daily News, which will also boost the newspaper's sales and bring greater influence to the Oriental Daily News.

However, publishing such a report may raise controversy and potential risks, especially regarding the disclosure of data from Bank of East Asia, which is a decision for you to make. Therefore, I am seeking your opinion first.

Upon hearing this, Lin Haoran's eyes flashed with interest, his interest suddenly piqued.

This Mr. Yu is quite an interesting person.

"Don't rush this. First, fax me a copy of their latest report. I'll take a look, and then I'll discuss it with Uncle He and get back to you!" Lin Haoran said with a smile after thinking for a moment.

“Okay, boss, I’ll fax it to you right now!” Cui Zilong replied.

A few minutes after hanging up the phone, Lin Haoran received a document faxed by Cui Zilong.

He Shanheng listened to the whole thing, so he naturally knew what had happened.

At this moment, he was also very curious about what the latest results from Universal Research would be, given that they had not released the specific data.

And what about Huifeng Bank? Is it as they probably guessed?

Holding the document, the two couldn't wait to start reading.

"It is estimated that the total capital of Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank is approximately HK$1038 billion, accounting for about 44.2% of the market share in Hong Kong's banking industry;
Huifeng Bank and Hang Seng Bank together have a combined capital of approximately HK$739 billion, representing about 31.5% of the Hong Kong banking market share.

This was the conclusion reached by the Global Research Company; as for the specific process, the two naturally had no time to investigate it in detail.

"To be able to estimate HK$1038 billion with such accuracy without knowing the actual figures is quite impressive!" Ho Sin-hang exclaimed.

There is a data report lying on the desk, showing that the funds of Bank of East Asia and its subsidiary Dao Heng Bank amount to HK$1041.7 billion, with an error margin of HK$4 million!
"It seems that the error on Huifeng Bank's side shouldn't be too big. We actually surpassed Huifeng Bank by so much!" As the boss, Lin Haoran was naturally in a particularly good mood at this moment, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up, revealing a confident and happy smile.

So, he can be considered a financial tycoon in Hong Kong now!

"The speed at which East Asia Bank has risen is simply astonishing!" He Shanheng exclaimed with a smile.

“Yes, our Bank of East Asia’s market share has already increased to 44%. Back when I first became a shareholder of Bank of East Asia, its market share was only about 3%.” Lin Haoran couldn’t help but sigh.

All of this feels like a dream.

At this moment, He Shanheng was also full of confidence. He felt that this was another big step forward for East Asia Bank to become a giant international bank!

"Uncle He, do you think we should have the Oriental Daily publish this?" Lin Haoran asked.

"Announce it, of course we have to announce it!" He Shanheng replied without hesitation.

(End of this chapter)