Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 655 The strength of HSBC

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Hong Kong Governor Youde really wants to act as a peacemaker and mediate the conflicts between Qinhe Group and HSBC and Swire Group.

He was under a lot of pressure when the contradictions of Hong Kong's top consortia surfaced, and he deeply understood why MacLehose, the former governor of Hong Kong, was admitted to the hospital after suffering a stroke when he was about to retire because of the battle between Qinhe and Jardine Capital.

Originally, Qinhe, which took over a series of assets of Jardine, had some cooperation with Swire, such as the Hong Kong Airport Services Co., Ltd. jointly established by the two parties.

From this point of view, the idea of ​​Qinhe Strategy to participate in the listing of Cathay Pacific seemed natural. However, under the instigation of HSBC, it was rejected by Swire and became the talk of the town and the butt of laughter in the industry.

This time, Qinhe was pissed off, like a proud prince who couldn't confess his love to a beautiful girl, his relationship with Taikoo turned from love to hate in an instant, and they fought violently.

One of the iconic events was that the Admiralty land that Taikoo had planned to build into Taikoo Plaza was abruptly snatched away by Qinhe, and his face was swollen with his mouth.

As the world energy crisis broke out in the 1970s, the shipbuilding industry of Heung Kong gradually declined, and Swire Dockyard and Whampoa Dockyard merged into Heung Kong United Dockyard in Tsing Yi, West New Territories.

Swire Group established Swire Properties Limited in 1972 to develop the original site of its own Swire Dockyard, which has become today's high-end residential area - Taikoo Shing.

From this project, the Swire Group enjoyed great benefits, so it had high hopes for the Pacific Place plan, but was knocked unconscious by a stick.

However, this is not the end.Immediately afterwards, the Swire Group lost the Coca-Cola franchise that had been in operation for many years, and the other side of the face was also swollen.

This thing is like competing for land, the one with the highest price wins, and the loser has nothing to complain about.But anyone who cares knows that it is not that simple, and no one can guess what kind of revengeful tricks Qin He, who holds a grudge, will use in unpredictable ways.

Swire, which has been focusing on industry for more than 100 years, finally couldn't sit still.

Of course, it can retaliate against Qinhe and get the field back.But after that, are the two sides going to stab each other like this?
Taikoo doesn't have the confidence to be kind and diligent, and the other party's wealth and sophistication in the process of eating up Jardine is too dreadful.

Moreover, Taikoo, who has recollected it, does not want to be used as a weapon by HSBC inexplicably—Nima, you two are fighting, what are you doing with me?
Why did Cathay Pacific, which has already made a lot of money, choose to list in Hong Kong?It is not because it has to take root in Xiangjiang and represent Xiangjiang in order to continue to maintain vested interests!

Under this premise, Swire cannot just walk away like some companies. It has to find another way to survive, such as the cooperation with CITIC which is in the negotiation stage.

Therefore, Taikoo, who was grabbed by Qinhe's hair and slapped twice, did not bother to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth and quickly looked for a peacemaker. The first candidate to bear the brunt was naturally Hong Kong Governor Youde.

……

Due to differences in opinions, people from Swire and HSBC came earlier.Shen Bi, chairman of the board of directors of HSBC, invited John Shi, the chairman of the board of directors of Swire Group, and Peng Lizhi, the former financial secretary of Heung Kong, to the VIP room, trying to finally lobby Swire Group not to be so servile and compromise—as long as the two of us join hands, what good is there I'm afraid, fuck this guy with ulterior motives!

"You have always said that Tang Huan is not only greedy, but also chauvinistic. After Qinhe annexed Jardine and Landmark, the next target is HSBC, and even Swire is hard to escape. But until now I have not been confirmed. The actual situation Yes, Qinhe’s local actions in Xiangjiang have always been stable, and its external expansion is very active. Everyone can be said to be in peace with each other; but after the unnecessary twists and turns of Cathay Pacific’s listing, they immediately met each other.” John Shi Complained: "Qinhe, who was humiliated, is now famous as a teacher. This kind of fighting style is very similar to the battle between Qinhe and Yihe a few years ago."

"So what." Shen Bi disagreed very much, "Yihe's management was too aggressive, which led to high debts, especially the Keswick family only held [-]% of the shares, which made him a piece of meat in Tang Huan's mouth; but Swire is different. It strives for stability in everything and has excellent performance. Moreover, your Swire family holds more than half of the shares, so there will never be any loss of power."

"But in this struggle, what can Taigu get? You also said that our Shi Huaiya family holds more than half of the shares. Even if Tang Huan wants to annex it, it will be difficult to succeed in a short time. The first problem that Taigu needs to solve at present is Come up with a solution to deal with the arrival of 1986 as soon as possible. It is already 11, and the remaining 1990 years are just enough for the adjustment of enterprises. We can't wait until the [-]s. "

Speaking of this, John Shi smiled mockingly, "Don't forget, I am also a director of HSBC Bank. What the 'new accounting arrangement' that is being discussed in secret can be speculated to some extent. HSBC Bank is willing to Letting go of such a major vested interest shows how strong his determination to take the road of internationalization is. HSBC is gone, what will happen to Taikoo, which has attracted hatred? Perhaps, as you said, Tang Huan coveted HSBC , It’s true. But I suspect that you repeatedly lobbied Swire and Qinhe to go to war in order to distract the opponent’s attention so that HSBC can make an orderly layout.”

Hearing that John Shi almost pointed his nose and said "HSBC pushed Swire to the front as cannon fodder", Shen Bi's face darkened at that time, but he couldn't explain it for a while, because the "new accounting arrangement" mentioned by the other party was indeed true. It is a matter, and this involves a source of interest that HSBC is currently difficult to give up.

For a long time, HSBC Bank has been a special existence of Xiangjiang. Its specific meaning refers to that, as a private commercial bank, it has assumed multiple functions of the central bank and played an important role in Xiangjiang's "quasi-central bank". And mainly manifested in five aspects.

First, HSBC is the main note-issuing bank in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong does not have a central bank. Traditionally, banknotes, one of the functions of the central bank, were authorized by the Hong Kong government to be responsible for commercial banks.

In 1865, the newly established HSBC began to issue banknotes, a little later than the three banks including Dongfan, Huili and Standard Chartered.

Later, the Dongfan Bank went bankrupt, and the bank was acquired by HSBC in 1959, and the right to issue banknotes was revoked by the Hong Kong government in 1978.

In this regard, Hong Kong's banknotes have been issued by two banks, HSBC and Standard Chartered.Among them, HSBC has always accounted for more than 8% of the banknote issuance volume, becoming the main banknote-issuing bank.

As for the original time and space, the Bank of China also became the note-issuing bank, that was in the 1990s.

The note-issuing bank is not just a gimmick that sounds tall, there are real benefits in it.

Because the cost of issuing notes is borne by the Exchange Fund, the note-issuing bank enjoys "free advertising", which has a positive and significant impact on its goodwill.

The status of the note-issuing bank also gives HSBC an advantage in business competition, especially in deposit-taking.

What's more, the image of HSBC has become a symbol of Hong Kong dollar credit.

This shows how valuable the name of the note-issuing bank is.

Second, HSBC is the main correspondent bank of the Hong Kong government.

At the beginning of its establishment, HSBC established a close cooperative relationship with the Hong Kong government.

For a long time, the Hong Kong government's foreign exchange, financial reserves, and government cash receipts and payments have been mainly managed by the Exchange Fund and the Treasury, respectively, and then these two institutions have transactions with relevant banks.

It is roughly estimated that HSBC accounts for more than half of the funds deposited by the Hong Kong government in various banks.

This is equivalent to HSBC adding a super rich customer out of thin air, enjoying a solid deposit base.

Third, HSBC is entrusted by the Hong Kong government to play the role of "lender of last resort".

This so-called "lender of last resort" is one of the important functions of the central bank.

It contains two meanings: first, the "lender of last resort" has the responsibility to provide liquidity assistance to banks troubled by adverse rumors, or to rescue problematic banks by injecting capital when necessary; second, the "lender of last resort" Injecting funds into a cash-strapped banking system and providing overnight credit to banks that lack positions after the day's interbank market closes.

In Hong Kong's financial system, the function of the "lender of last resort" is shared by the Hong Kong government's Exchange Fund and the two note-issuing banks, HSBC and Standard Chartered.

During the financial crisis in the 1960s and 1980s, the Hong Kong government negotiated with HSBC and Standard Chartered, entrusting these two note-issuing banks to rescue or manage financial institutions in financial crisis.

At the beginning, Hang Seng Bank, which was slandered by rumors and fell into a run crisis, was taken advantage of by HSBC in this way and took away the controlling stake.

Fourth, for a long time, HSBC has always played the role of the chief banker and financial advisor of the Hong Kong government, and implemented monetary policy as the agent of the Hong Kong government.

In this context, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of HSBC Bank has always been an ex officio member of the Hong Kong Executive Council. At the same time, HSBC Bank is also a member of the Hong Kong Government Exchange Fund Advisory Committee.In addition, HSBC is one of the three permanent members of the Hong Kong Association of Banks.

The Hong Kong Bankers Association is a statutory body of the Hong Kong banking industry. It was formerly known as the Hong Kong Foreign Exchange Bank Association. It was established in 364 according to the Hong Kong Bankers Association Regulations, Chapter 1981 of the Hong Kong Laws. It represents the Hong Kong banking industry to exchange opinions with the Hong Kong government.

If a bank wants to operate banking business in Hong Kong, it must not only apply for a banking license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, but also must become a member of the Hong Kong Banking Association.

Among these members, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Bank of China are permanent members of the Hong Kong Bankers Association, but only HSBC and Standard Chartered take turns serving as the chairman and vice chairman of the association.In the original time and space, Bank of China also had to wait until the 1990s to qualify for "rotation".

Fifth, HSBC is the management bank of the Clearing House of the Hong Kong Association of Banks.

In 1981, HSBC reached an agreement with the Hongkong Banking Association to serve as the management bank of the clearinghouse and provide central settlement services to the Hongkong banking system.

According to the "Regulations on Clearing House of the Hong Kong Association of Banks", the exchange, settlement and transfer of all member banks of the Hong Kong Association of Banks must be carried out at the Central Clearing House of the Hong Kong Association of Banks.

In this system, the management bank of the clearing house is in the most important position; under it are the settlement banks, including HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of China, East Asia, Guangdong, Huawei, Wanguo Baotong, Overseas Chinese, and Shanghai. There are 10 licensed banks, including Shanghai Commercial Bank and Yongan Bank; the rest are secondary settlement banks.

The secondary settlement bank must open an account with the settlement bank, and the settlement bank must open an account with HSBC as the management bank.

During the bill settlement process, if there is a balance in the HSBC account of other settlement banks, HSBC does not need to pay interest; if there is an overdraft, the settlement bank must pay HSBC interest.

It is precisely because of this regulation that other settlement banks must always maintain sufficient balance funds in HSBC's account to meet settlement purposes, so that HSBC can often have a huge amount of interest-free funds.

In addition, as the management bank of the central clearing house, HSBC can understand the cash flow status of the entire banking system, grasp the pulse of Xiangjiang's banking industry, and reach the point where it does not mix sand in its eyes in terms of intelligence.

These are the main special treatment that HSBC enjoyed in Xiangjiang in the colonial era, and it is also the source of its strength.And the "new accounting arrangement" that is still being discussed in secret is related to the fifth point.

Its general content is: HSBC opens a Hong Kong dollar account with the Hong Kong Government's Exchange Fund and maintains a balance in this account, which shall not be less than the total net balance of all other bank settlement accounts in the banking system; the loan balance in the account does not accrue interest. If the balance falls below the net settlement amount, HSBC must pay interest to the Exchange Fund on the difference; the Exchange Fund may, at its discretion, use the account to settle Hong Kong dollar transactions with HSBC and other licensed banks.

If this plan is put into practice, then HSBC can be regarded as wielding a knife, because it will give up the control and dominance of the settlement balance of the Hong Kong banking system, and transfer the monopoly profits obtained by managing settlement in the past from HSBC to the Hong Kong government. Exchange Fund.

It can be imagined that HSBC must be reluctant to part with this huge benefit, but it cannot be tied by this chain if it wants to return to the UK and enter the international market.The result of the discussion cannot be produced because of this dilemma.

I have to say that this is a manifestation of the unscrupulousness of businessmen.

Every citizen is working for the country, and the country must fulfill its obligations accordingly.

With its special status, HSBC has sucked blood in Xiangjiang for so many years. It should be born as a Xiangjiang person and die as a Xiangjiang ghost.

But now it is thinking about how to run away without anyone noticing, which naturally attracts those who fight the injustice.But Shen Bi, who faintly felt that Tang Huan was going to ruin HSBC's good things, tried every means to take the lead.

It's just that the chairman of the HSBC board of directors can't come up with any real evidence, and it's okay to order a fool once in a while.John Shi is holding this idea.

Seeing that Shen Bi was speechless, John Shi said leisurely: "In order to get rid of the entanglement as soon as possible, I am planning to retire and let my brother Shi Yadi take over. This can be regarded as a settlement."

Seeing that the other party was so useless, Shen Bi was trembling with anger, and it took a long time before he sneered and said, "When Liang Zi knots up, it's knotted. Do you think that by doing this, you will be able to clear up the past?"

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(End of this chapter)