Holy Roman Empire

So far, due to Russia's debt default, more than three-digit financial institutions across the European continent have declared bankruptcy, while Austria's financial industry is still struggling.

For the sake of long-term interests, as long as the capitalists can survive, no one wants to be out at this time.

Philippot was just one of them, and after a lot of running around, he still didn't get the answer he wanted.

High profits are always accompanied by high risks, and it is easy to reduce risks. When selling bonds, don’t make a promise to protect your capital, and just clearly inform investors of the risks.

Issuing bonds does not rely on credit, but on guarantees.As long as they have passed a strict review, even if there is a problem with the debt in the end, it is impossible to lose everything.

Returning to the company in a daze, Phillip sat in the office and smoked.I have already started to think about whether to raise funds from other places to fill this hole.

The high commission plus the liquidated damages paid in advance, after calculating the company's operating costs and taxes, the loss this time was about 560 million Aegis.

As for the company's operating costs and taxes, in fact, the commissions obtained at the beginning and the profits brought about by rolling in the financial market can already be made up for.

If calculated comprehensively, the loss of this business may be even smaller, otherwise the financial industry would not be called a profiteering industry.

Even if all bondholders need to pay in advance, the funds that need to be spent now are only 70 million Aegis.

Half of the funds for the company's projects can be settled, some of the long-held stocks and bonds can be sold, and another 150 million Aegis can be raised.

Selling a few luxury houses under his name can also raise 50 million Aegis, and the final gap is about one million Aegis.

As long as the company is kept, the money can be earned back.After all, Philippot's securities company does not exist alone, and also holds shares in a bank.

Part of Philippot's profits from the company is used for personal consumption, and most of it is invested in other fields, and banks are one of them.

Even at this moment, he has no intention of selling the bank shares.Without the identity of a bank shareholder, it will be difficult for securities companies to raise funds.

While he was thinking about how to raise funds, a familiar voice came from outside the door.

"Mr. Philippot, good news, good news!"

Philippot pretended to be calm and said: "Alpha speak slowly, don't get excited."

The young man from Alpha said out of breath: "I just received news that Wells Fargo Securities is buying Russian bonds in the market.

It's just that the price is a bit low. They are only willing to offer two tiers of face value, which is lower than the current market value, and they also limit the acceptance of exclusive bonds issued by the Russians to Austria. "

After the tsarist government declared default, the Russian bonds depreciated.It didn't become waste paper all of a sudden. After all, it is still possible for the Russians to pay, but the hope is slim.

There is a price, but unfortunately there is no market.No matter how much the price is, no one in the market dares to accept it.To collect debts from the Russians, everyone still doesn't think they have the ability.

The actions of Wells Fargo Securities undoubtedly injected a dose of good medicine into the market.However, this has little to do with Phillips. Buying back Russian bonds is terrible, and then collecting bonds from the market to make a difference, let’s forget it!

Only predators dare to play with this kind of high-risk money.As a pawn in the capital market, it is better not to join in the fun.

"Contact them immediately. We have a large amount of bonds in our hands. Ask them if they want it. As long as they may offer [-]% off, if not [-]% off, I will sell them!"

This is a test. Compared with the financial predators, Philippot's news is still not well-informed.

Whether it was a smoke bomb released by Wells Fargo Securities, or things really turned around, is completely unknown.

After all, the number of bonds held by large institutions is much larger than them.Not one or two financial institutions were forced to repurchase bonds in advance.

In order to stabilize people's hearts, it is entirely possible to deliberately release a message.Not only Philippot is suspicious, but many financial institutions in Austria are also suspicious.

It is an open secret that the Russia-Austria negotiations have reached an impasse. Most people in the financial circles are paying close attention to the progress of the negotiations.

It is not difficult to know the specific content. It may be difficult to obtain information from Austrian diplomacy, but it is only a matter of money to find out the negotiation process from the Russians.

However, no one can judge whether the news is true or not.Under normal circumstances, the reputation of Russian bureaucrats is still very good, and it is their good professional ethics to take money to do things.

In case things cannot be done, you may still enjoy a refund service. This is something that many people have experienced.

But this time the situation is different, and the problems involved are too big.If someone offers a high price, it is not impossible for them to act on the spot.

The most reliable way is to ask the foreign minister to confirm it personally. No one knows how to do such a stupid thing.It’s not like that if you want to die. The dignity of the Vienna government cannot be provoked. If you dare to peep at state secrets, you will die.

Testing Wells Fargo Securities has become the only option. If the negotiations make progress, then everyone will make a lot of money by holding a large amount of Russian bonds. Otherwise, the big deal will be the same as now.

Chapter 24 暗渡陈仓

The turmoil in the Austrian financial market is still within a controllable range.Everyone knows that the Russia-Austria alliance has not yet broken down. Even if the Russians renege on their debts, they will finally rely on their allies.

Now that the Russia-Austria negotiations have reached a deadlock, to some extent, it can be regarded as good news.Something to talk about is always better than nothing to talk about.

Prior to this, the Russians had communicated with many countries to no avail.Many financial institutions have been pitted and cried, and capitalists were forced to choose the golden cicada to get out of their shells.

Among them, the two financial markets of Paris and London have the greatest impact. Don't think that if you are the enemy, you will have no loans.In the face of interests, capitalists don't care about cooperating with anyone.

The Russians used the proceeds of grain exports as mortgages, and no one was worried that the Tsarist government would default at all in advance.As long as the Russians' grain is sold, they can collect money.

However, the plan did not change quickly. With the loss of the granary on the Pod Plain and the cost of the civil war in the Moscow region, the Russians now have no food exports at all.

Land reclamation is physical work, and the more you do, the more you will eat, and the demand for food will also increase.

Since the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, the Russians stopped exporting agricultural products to Britain and France, and even imported grain from Austria in the middle.

The Russians withdrew from the grain export market, and this part of the share was naturally occupied by others.The so-called mortgage of grain export proceeds has now become a joke.

Expecting the Russians to pay back the money by selling grain, it is better to say that the Russians lost the market and want to return to the market in the future, asking them to help open the market.

Otherwise, if the grain cannot be sold, what will be used to repay the debt?

According to the current situation, the Russians will not be able to return to the international market within two or three years.Investors can't wait that long, and capitalists naturally play with the Russians.

If the company is directly declared bankrupt, these losses will be passed on to ordinary people.When these bonds fall to the bottom, they can also manipulate the vest to take it back again, waiting to collect debts from the Russians in the future.

Of course, the possibility of debt collection is very small.Compared with a country, the power of an individual is still very large. Even a consortium is unwilling to confront a big country like the Russian Empire.

These problems are difficult to solve without government intervention.As long as you think about the bad international relations between the two sides, everyone knows that there is no way.

Restricting food entry for the Russians looks good.However, in the face of interests, capitalists have no integrity.

As long as the Russians are willing to lower the price, the food capitalists inside Britain and France will cooperate to transport the food in.When it comes to the market, who knows where these grains come from?

If the economic crisis had not just passed, the financial turmoil that broke out in Britain and France would be enough to detonate an economic crisis.

The telegraph brought people closer together, and the financial turmoil that occurred in London and Paris soon spread to Vienna.

Larger-scale market turmoil occurred, and speculators couldn't do it anymore, and would rather default on the Russian debt in their hands in advance.

If it weren't for the securities companies opening up the window for default payment, and Wells Fargo Securities buying Russian bonds at a low price to appease the people, Austria would be bustling now.

Taking Paris as an example, at least 18 people participated in demonstrations against the Russian breach of contract.

Under normal circumstances, there are definitely not so many people who buy Russian bonds in Paris, even if their family members are included.

To Franz's surprise, this scene was also staged on the streets of New York. It seems that the Americans were also tricked by the Russians.

Once again, being an ally with the Russians proved risky.The United States and Russia did not have time to form an alliance, and the Americans were passively recruited.

It was not the securities company that suffered the worst, but the bank that undertook loans from the Tsarist government.Russian bonds are also the most difficult to sell among national bonds, and this sales volume has always been very impressive.

Worldwide, the ability to sell [-] to [-] million Aegis is the limit.Even if there is a trap, it will not trap everyone.

Bank loans are different. Although the loaned money belongs to the depositor, it is also the bank's own bad debts.

Yes, the Tsarist government did mortgage a mess of taxes, and now the Russians are not going to cash them out.

The tsarist government played a scoundrel, leaving the creditors to collect taxes themselves.No creditor is so strong that he dares to go to the Russian Empire to collect taxes himself.

Not to mention whether the tax can be received, even if the tax is really received, can it be taken away safely?

No one wants to try such a deadly thing to test the integrity of the poor and crazy tsarist government.

In the face of high interest rates, banks did not resist the temptation.Always think that the Russians have joined the civilized world and will abide by the rules of the game.

Only ignore that once the tsarist government is poor and crazy, it can do anything, and now they have paid a terrible price for it.

Securities companies can get out of their shells, but banks can't follow suit, can they?The investment costs of the two parties are not at the same level at all, and the social influence they bring is also very different.

In this era, there were not many clients of securities companies, and they basically started from the middle class.

Even if it goes bankrupt, it will only affect [-] people. If it can have tens of thousands of customers, it is a big company.

Not everyone bought Russian bonds. Even if they went bankrupt, the social threat would not be great.

Banks are different, and the standards for depositors are not so high.Their customer base is much larger. Once they declare bankruptcy, it is easy to cause bad social impact and cause government intervention.

Moreover, although the loss this time was not small, it was not to the point of killing everyone.It is easy to start a bank, but it is not easy to build a reputation to attract depositors, and you cannot give up easily.

Now is the last era of the aristocracy, and the era of the capitalists has not yet fully come. Except for the two United States, most countries are dominated by the aristocracy.

Including Britain and France are no exception, it is the aristocracy that suppresses the capitalists.It's just that their advantages are not obvious enough. Unlike Austria, Russia, and Prussia, this kind of government is completely controlled by the nobles.

When encountering a large amount of bad debts, the bank will inevitably shrink its money for a period of time to deal with a possible run crisis.

This is undoubtedly worse for securities companies that want to raise funds.

In Wells Fargo, Philippot roared: "What? Why don't you grab the [-]% monthly interest?"

Not all the way, not on the same boat.The bank in which Philippot holds shares is also caught in the debt crisis with Russia, and now it is too busy to protect itself and has no ability to save him.

As a last resort, I came to Wells Fargo Bank.There is no other reason, mainly because Wells Fargo has never undertaken loans to Russia, and it is also one of the four major banks in Austria with strong financial strength.

Albert, the account manager, said without changing his face: "Sorry, Mr. Philippot. This is a high-risk loan, and we have to add the risk cost of funds."

A high-risk loan made Philippot wake up from a dream, and hurriedly asked: "Should I still pay [-]% off the loan amount, and pay the principal and interest on a monthly basis, and even deduct the first year's principal and interest and ?”

Albert, the account manager, smiled and said, "Yes, Mr. Philippot. I didn't expect you to know so much about the banking industry. Have you been to other banks before?"

Although Philippot didn't show it on the face, he scolded him in his heart.I am also a shareholder of a bank anyway, so how could I not know about this kind of trickery?

It's just that Philippot was very happy when he saw these routines at the beginning. After all, they were used to deceive others. Now it's his turn, and the situation has changed.

According to a series of routine operations, it is God's blessing to be able to get 60.00% of the loan.

If you are unlucky, it is normal for you to directly mark a [-]% discount and only get half of the loan funds.

In fact, there is less money in hand, but the principal and interest of the debt still have to be repaid in full as agreed, even if there is less than one shilling.

Philippe went out the door without looking back. If he borrowed this kind of usury, he would probably work for Wells Fargo in the future.

Instead of this, he might as well sell the bonds in his hand and cash out from Wells Fargo Securities to survive this crisis.

Thinking of this, Phillip became even more depressed.It seems that Wells Fargo Securities is also a subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, so it cannot be avoided.

As for going to other banks, don't even dream about it.Philippot has visited more than a dozen large banks, and the conditions given by everyone are similar.

When it comes to looting, banks always have the same face.This cannot be entirely blamed on the banks. In the event of a possible run crisis, the risk factor of external loans will increase greatly, and the interest will naturally increase.

As for the so-called loans with a few points of interest rate, it only exists in theory.In practice, except for policy-based loans, it is difficult for banks to accept such low interest rates.

Now that things have come to this, it is natural to have to cut the flesh.Philippot's funding gap is not too big, as long as he sells the Russian debt in his hand, he can get through the current hurdle.

In this way, although his loss was heavy, the risk was reduced.If he survived the crisis with loans, holding a large number of bonds of unknown value in his hands, if the Russian-Austrian negotiations failed, he would go bankrupt.

There are still many people who make the same choice, basically they are not strong enough in financial strength, and they have to cut their flesh due to the crisis of life and death.

Schönbrunn Palace, looking at the ever-increasing Russian debts in their hands, Palace Chancellor Mirabegron is in a bad mood.

That's right, this is the trumpet created by Franz again.It's just that the development is somewhat unexpected, and it has become one of the four major banks in Austria.

In the view of Mirabegron Palace, this is a high-risk investment. At present, the Vienna government has no way to let the Russians fully perform the contract.Now that the acquisition of Russian bonds, the possibility of being able to pay in a short time is almost zero.

If you wait ten or eight years, you will lose a lot.The time cost of capital also needs to be taken into consideration.

Franz comforted: "Master, don't worry. These bonds will be paid by the Russians, but not in our hands.

It is enough to buy at a low price now, and when the collection is almost the same, we will sell it back to the Russian Empire.Those nobles in Russia wouldn't mind a small fortune.

At worst, if we sell them at half price, that's double the profit.After getting these bonds, these nobles would not mind using them to offset taxes. "

This tactic can only be used once. Once the Russians are prepared and legislate to prohibit the tax deduction of bonds, they really cannot be sold.

Waiting for the tsarist government to pay in the future will be at least ten years later, and full payment cannot be guaranteed.For such a long time, Franz didn't know what others thought, anyway, he couldn't wait.

After listening to Franz's explanation, Palace Minister Mirabegron fell into a daze, which was completely beyond his imagination.

Originally, he thought that Franz had inside information and could use his connections to let the Tsarist government pay the debt first.

Unexpectedly, the method was so brutal, directly using the greed of the nobles to solve the problem.

Chapter 25 冲量模式

No matter how rough the means are, people without strength can't play.Leaving aside the capital investment in the early stage, how to hook up with the Russian nobles is a difficult problem.

You know, the Russian aristocracy is the most conservative existence in Europe.A capitalist wanted to make a sale, but he probably couldn't even see anyone, so he was kicked out.

Even if the sale is successful, if you encounter a greedy nobleman, you may be directly hacked into the bond, and you will not get the last shilling.

Although I am not worried about competitors, the secrecy work is still done. Otherwise, the tsarist government will patch it in advance, and then it will have to wait for Alexander III to pay back the money.