The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

On the morning of June 7, Lin Zhichao came to the headquarters of Hang Lung Bank and held a morning meeting with senior executives.

Since Hang Lung Bank was acquired by Lin Zhichao, its deposits have skyrocketed and now exceed 10 billion Hong Kong dollars; of course, this includes the US$500 million deposited by Lin Zhichao, which is less than 4 billion Hong Kong dollars.

But it is still a remarkable achievement, which fully demonstrates Lin Zhichao's personal influence in Hong Kong and the guarantee of his credibility.

In less than two years, Lin Zhichao also asked Lin Benfeng to form a very professional banking team, and he did not hesitate to recruit talents from everywhere. Even the deputy general manager of the credit department of HSBC Bank was poached by Lin Zhichao. I was turned over by the executive officer of HSBC Bank.

Although Hang Lung Bank is a medium-sized bank, Lin Zhichao develops like a large bank, and management salaries are much higher than those of medium-sized banks.

After all, the parent company of Hang Lung Bank, Octopus Financial, has five major shareholders including the Lam family (each accounting for 10%). The remaining two shareholders are Victoria Harbor Investment and the Lam Family Office, which can be said to have a strong background.

"This morning, the Hong Kong government issued a statement - Haito Bank was 'unable to repay its debts' and was closed for two days. I think that Haito Bank is already insolvent and will be taken over by the Hong Kong government. Therefore, I invite you to come because I intend to Go contact the Hong Kong government and see if we can take over Haito Bank!"

All the senior executives were surprised, and Lin Benfeng immediately said: "Boss, the situation in Haito Bank is probably very serious. I heard that last night, the Hong Kong government arrested high-level officials in Haito who wanted to flee Hong Kong at the airport, including Haito's founder Zhang Mingtian. His wife, acting chairman Wu Chanrui, and his son Zhang Chengzhong, I estimate that Haito’s losses may be as high as several billion Hong Kong dollars!”

Overseas Trust Bank was established in 1956. It was led by Zhang Mingtian, a wealthy businessman from Malaysia, and was formed by inviting Hong Kong banker Cao Yao and other Hong Kong businessmen. The bank was listed in 1972.

In 1976, Hightower built a 30-story head office building in Wan Chai;

By the end of the 1970s, it had over a thousand employees and assets of nearly HK$3 billion.

Currently, the bank controls Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Dajie Finance Company, and has a total of 43 local branches and 8 overseas branches.

In March 1982, Zhang Mingtian passed away. Huang Changzan, a member of the family, took over as chairman, and his son Zhang Chengzhong succeeded as executive chairman. Soon, Huang Changzan was kicked out of the board of directors by the Zhang family, and Zhang Mingtian's wife Wu Chanrui became the acting chairman.

Before Zhang Mingtian's death, the top management of Haito Bank made frequent adjustments. This was due to two main reasons: first, there were operational problems; second, it was to ensure that the Zhang family was firmly in the position of Haito Bank.

Now that even the family members are not arrested, it is obviously a huge loss!

Lin Zhichao said: "Assuming that his loss is HK$3 billion, we only need to inject HK$2 billion, and the follow-up will be nothing more than spending several years to reduce losses. But have you ever thought about it, once the Hong Kong government takes over, the Hong Kong government will To inject funds, Hightower Bank may sell HK$4 billion in the future. This is why I have always wanted Hang Lung Bank and even Octopus Financial Group to recruit more elite talents to join, with the purpose of taking over the Chinese capital in Hong Kong. Problem banks. Don’t be afraid if there are problems, because such problems are usually caused by investment losses and irregular loans, but the existence of the entire bank’s network allows us to avoid many detours.”

When you buy a bank, you are not buying its net assets, you are buying its ‘potential’. Haito Bank has 8 overseas branches and 43 local branches. These networks are what Octopus Financial Group needs.

If the total losses of Hightower Bank are recovered, and then Hang Lung Bank and Hightower Bank are on the right track, they can be merged into "Octopus Bank"; in this way, Octopus Bank will become the fifth largest local bank in Hong Kong. , the fifth largest bank by total assets after HSBC, Hang Seng, Standard Chartered and East Asia.

Lin Benfeng nodded and said: "The boss's idea is feasible, as long as we have sufficient funds. However, injecting 2 billion is also very dangerous for our assets of just over 10 billion. After all, the amount of our loans is very high."

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "I personally deposited 500 million US dollars into Hang Lung. Originally, I wanted to deposit these funds in my own bank."

Everyone couldn't help but be surprised by the boss's wealth. With a cash flow of US$500 million, no rich man in Hong Kong could afford it.

In the morning, Lin Zhichao came to the Office of the Financial Secretary and met Peng Lizhi.

Peng Lizhi was still the chairman of the board of directors of Swire \u0026 Company in 1974, and served as the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong in 1981. This situation fully demonstrates that the relationship between the four major foreign banks and the Hong Kong government can be described as "you have me, and I have you".

Of course, in the face of absolute strength, this kind of collusion between officials and businessmen is not enough in front of Lin Zhichao.

For example, when Lin Zhichao acquired the Wharf Group, the Hong Kong government soon set a 35% acquisition line (originally 51%), but in fact this had little impact on Lin Zhichao, because at that time, Lin Zhichao had at least a few With tens of billions of cash flows (cash out of gold), as long as he finds the right opportunity (the stock market is sluggish), he can privatize many companies, but he is unwilling to do so.

"Director Peng, I'm here to ask if Haito Bank is about to be taken over by the Hong Kong government?"

Peng Lizhi immediately reacted and said, "Could it be that Mr. Lin is planning to take over Haito Bank?"

Because of the precedent of Hang Lung Bank, Peng immediately understood what Lin Zhichao was thinking.

Lin Zhichao said: "The government's takeover of Hightower Bank is because it is worried about causing a chain reaction and causing financial chaos in Hong Kong. So I am wondering, if our Hang Lung Bank takes over Hightower Bank, will it better reflect Hong Kong's free economic model!"

Peng Lizhi said curiously: "Does Mr. Lin know about the situation of Haito Bank?"

Lin Zhichao shook his head and said: "We hope to check the information with the help of the Hong Kong government. As long as the loss is acceptable, we can immediately inject 2 billion Hong Kong dollars into it."

Peng Lizhi was surprised. 2 billion is not a small amount. To take over a bank that needs to be taken over, I am afraid no other businessman has the courage, right?

He immediately asked: "After Hang Lung Bank was acquired by Octopus Financial, it has indeed developed well in the past two years. I know this. But I don't want to implicate Hang Lung Bank because of the Highto Bank matter. After all, 2 billion Hong Kong dollars is not a small numbers,"

Lin Zhichao said: "Today I have transferred my personal deposits from HSBC and Hang Seng to Hang Lung Bank, which is almost 4 billion Hong Kong dollars. With this fund guarantee, there will be no problems with Haito Bank and it will not cause any problems in Hong Kong." Financial turmoil.”

Peng Lizhi was simply shocked over and over again by Lin Zhichao's style, which was simple and crude.

Of course, he also understands that as Lin Zhichao is the richest man in China, there is no other rich man in Hong Kong who can compare with him. Even the sum of several rich people cannot match Lin Zhichao's wealth. However, the 4 billion Hong Kong dollars invested in Hang Lung Bank in a short period of time were really underestimated.

"Okay, I will arrange for the Hang Lung Bank team immediately and provide you with your information."

"Okay, then I'll trouble you, Director Peng!"

"This is what I should do. Mr. Lin is right. The purpose of the Hong Kong government's takeover is not to cause financial instability. It does not really want to run the bank. This is not the job of the Hong Kong government. However, many problems have emerged in Overseas Trust Bank , the Banking Regulatory Office will continue to follow up and use this case as a warning."

"No problem, we will cooperate safely. What's more, we also hope to recover some losses!"

On that day, the Hang Seng Index plummeted 87 points. The huge drop showed the profound impact of Haito Bank. The industry called it the "Haito Shock".

Many depositors gathered at the head office and branches of Overseas Trust Bank, but these doors were closed and police were patrolling, so everyone was anxious.

"Is everything going to be okay? That's the money I've worked so hard to save all my life, so don't let anything happen to me!"

"I heard that they caught members of the Zhang Mingtian family who were trying to escape with a huge sum of money. These damn bastards actually want to run away!"

"If I catch them, I will definitely use their heads as balls to kick!"

The number of people accumulating is increasing, and everyone is very worried. The Hong Kong government has also sent public officials to persuade them, but it is difficult to eliminate everyone's worries immediately. Until a piece of news came out in the afternoon, everyone was suddenly shocked.

"The latest news is that Hang Lung Bank, owned by Mr. Lin Zhichao, wants to take over Overseas Trust Bank. Mr. Lin Zhichao has held talks with the Financial Secretary this morning."

"Really? If Mr. Lin Zhichao guarantees it, there will definitely be no problem with my deposit!"

Someone asked: "Isn't Hang Lung Bank smaller than Haito Bank?"

Someone immediately replied: "That's an old account. Since Hang Lung Bank was taken over by Mr. Lin Zhichao, deposits have more than doubled a year. What's more, behind Hang Lung Bank is Octopus Financial Group, and the shareholders of this group are Cheung Kong Group , Universal Group, Wharf Group, Media Group, Cheung Kong Industries Group, Lin Zhichao's personal shareholding companies, you name these shareholders, which one is not a big water pipe!"

He suddenly asked the question and said, "Aren't these all Lin Zhichao's companies?"

Someone said: "Now the Five Tigers of the Lin family are taking over these companies. I am afraid that Mr. Lin Zhichao will be in charge of Octopus Financial Group."

After learning that Hang Lung Bank may take over Overseas Trust Bank, most people breathed a sigh of relief.

To put it simply, in the eyes of Hong Kong citizens, Lin Zhichao's wealth is the sum of several other wealthy people in Hong Kong, because Lin Zhichao is the overlord in shipping, real estate, industry, media, hotels, and clothing.

At 8 o'clock in the evening that day, Lin Zhichao led Hang Lung Bank's senior officials, officials from the Hong Kong government headed by Financial Secretary Peng Lizhi, and financial experts held a press conference.

at the press conference.

Hang Lung Bank President Lin Benfeng announced that Hang Lung Bank will inject 2 billion Hong Kong dollars into overseas trust banks to ensure the safety of every depositor's funds and fully take over overseas trust banks.

Financial Secretary Peng Lizhi introduced the problem of Overseas Trust Bank. The preliminary investigation was that Zhang Mingtian followed his friend Yip Zhuanglin and used the "check wheel", which later caused the "check wheel" to get bigger and bigger. According to preliminary statistics, it has caused 90 million US dollars. losses; in addition, overseas trust investments also incurred book losses of over 2 billion, with a total loss of 28 billion.

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a lot of noise in the place.

At its peak, Overseas Trust Bank had deposits of RMB 30 billion and assets worth RMB 12 billion; however, these figures have been declining since 1981. Overseas Trust also sold Chinese Bank of China and had the opportunity to acquire the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Precisely because many people know that Overseas Trust Bank is failing, deposits are also being introduced significantly. Currently, the total deposits are more than 12 billion Hong Kong dollars, and the total assets have also depreciated crazily.

Because Overseas Trust is a listed company, it has caused such a huge loss. Zhang Mingtian’s family and board of directors have also falsified accounts. In addition, after Zhang Mingtian’s death, social relations have been lost. Therefore, if they do not take over, the only way is to go bankrupt.

Soon, reporters were asking Lin Zhichao questions, because he has always been the protagonist's fate!

Reporter: "Mr. Lin, Hang Lung Bank injected HK$2 billion into overseas trusts. Will it be affected?"

Lin Zhichao: "No! Since Hang Lung Bank is not listed for the time being, the responsibility of Hang Lung Bank is my responsibility, so please rest assured on this point."

The implication is that a hegemon that spans so many industries would be short of money?

Everyone smiled. Of course everyone believed this. Even the citizens believed in the credibility of the ‘God of Wealth’!

Reporter: "Hang Lung Bank invested HK$2 billion in overseas trusts. Is it worth it for such a bank with huge losses?"

Lin Zhichao said: "It's worth it! From an investment perspective, with a professional management team, it only takes about 5 to 6 years to make back the losses, and we have gained a huge banking network."

Later, Peng Lizhi also praised Lin Zhichao for taking over two problem banks in succession. He believed that he had effectively curbed the upcoming domino effect and prevented it from causing a catastrophe. At the same time, it also reduces the financial expenditure of the Hong Kong government.

The next day, Hong Kong media rushed to report on the matter, and depositors of overseas trust banks breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Zhichao's credibility and the takeover of Hang Lung Bank, coupled with the supervision and investigation of the Hong Kong government, gave overseas trust banks an immediate sense of stability. Although a small number of people will choose to withdraw funds, the overall situation will not be affected.

On the same day, Hang Lung Bank sent a team to overseas trust banks, and the Hong Kong government also sent financial experts to cooperate with the two parties to stabilize and investigate overseas trust banks.

Hang Lung Bank's injection of HK$2 billion does not cancel the listing status of Overseas Trust Bank. After the injection, Hang Lung Bank holds 80% of the equity of Overseas Trust Bank and still maintains its listing status.

Although the shares of small shareholders are diluted, at least they will not receive nothing.

And it is impossible for Hang Lung Bank to obtain 100% overseas trust, because it is a listed company, and even the Hong Kong government also injects funds here in exchange for most of the equity, not all equity.

The interests of shareholders and depositors also need to be guaranteed. (End of chapter)