Chapter 438 Hang Seng Directors and Theater Expansion
The time soon came to March 1, Hang Seng Bank held its first shareholder meeting after Yang Wendong became a shareholder. The meeting also decided that Hang Seng Bank currently has a total of 9 Yang Wendong openly holds 28% of the shares and obtained 2 board seats.
However, in fact, including some secretly acquired shares, Yang Wendong's shares are close to 32.3%, which is very close to the 37.7% held by He Shanheng.
Even if you spend a little more money, it is possible to become the real first shareholder. However, now that the crisis has passed, it will be easy for the news to leak out if you acquire stocks again. There is no need to fall out with the He family now. , just feel free to maintain the status quo.
You must know that Hang Seng Bank has been controlled by He Shanheng for decades. Even HSBC in the original history, after controlling 51% of the stock, was managed by the He family, because even an experienced person like HSBC could forcefully take over. Banks are not absolutely sure, and HSBC's acquisition of Hang Seng has also changed the attitude of many Chinese companies towards HSBC. If Yang Wendong does this, it will only cause greater public opinion.
If you really want to get equity, you can just wait until Hang Seng is listed in the future before buying it. As for the real management rights, we can discuss it after He Shanheng retires.
Historically, the descendants of the He family did not inherit Hang Seng Bank. Although there may be reasons for this due to HSBC, at this time, let He Shanheng continue to run Hang Seng well, even with some resources from Yang Wendong. , leveraging the capabilities of the existing team to go to Southeast Asia and even the world is the way to maximize benefits.
Two days later, the board of directors convened. He Shanheng also announced that in the previous wave of bank runs, Hang Seng Bank’s losses were as high as HK$39.57 million, exceeding the net profit of the previous year. At the same time, about 10% of depositors , but did not deposit the money back after withdrawing it.
It can be said that this wave has suffered heavy losses.
Everyone in the board of directors also agreed that in the next 1 to 2 years, the entire bank must control risks and adopt a sound strategy. It would rather make less money, but also ensure that there are enough funds in hand, and at the same time further reduce the risk. Some high-risk debt in hand.
After the meeting, He Shanheng invited Yang Wendong to have lunch with him at a restaurant next to Hang Seng Bank.
"Yang Sheng, I didn't ask any questions in the board meeting just now." After He Shanheng poured the tea himself, he asked: "Now everyone is more casual. I wonder what suggestions you have for the future development of Hang Seng?
Before you mentioned investing overseas, I checked that Singapore is also suitable, but I can only say that this is a long-term plan. In the short term, we are here in Hong Kong. It needs to be managed seriously.”
Many things are not suitable to be brought up in the board of directors, because the plans, suggestions, etc. proposed at the formal meeting need to be supported by certain evidence, and then the board of directors. Only representatives will vote; and if we are just discussing the future, it is better to change the environment, even if everyone on the board of directors changes positions at another time, it will be no problem.
Yang Wendong said: "In Hong Kong, I suggest that Hang Seng Bank get rid of the various real estate mortgages in its hands as soon as possible, and then invest the funds in the industrial field to help many factories finance, especially those related to the electronics industry. I am quite optimistic about the future.”
"What Yang Sheng means is that the real estate market will continue to fall?" He Shanheng asked.
Yang Wendong nodded and said: "Yes, the current decline in real estate is just the beginning. In addition to the previous high housing prices, there is also the run on various Chinese-owned banks, which will inevitably lead to In the future, monetary tightening in the financial industry will severely impact the real estate market. "
This wave of bank runs in Hong Kong is not just about Hang Seng, but also many other Chinese-owned banks. Many small banks have gone bankrupt. Big banks are also severely damaged.
Although the Hong Kong government intervened later, fear has already formed. Banks are afraid to lend money at will. Naturally, the first to be affected is the real estate industry. If the real estate industry falls slightly, the banks that are arrogant will force them to Repayments or increased mortgages forced real estate companies to sell properties to relieve the pressure on banks, which ultimately caused housing prices to fall even more sharply. In a vicious cycle, the real estate crisis broke out.
"Well, if there is a problem with the bank, real estate will definitely be affected." He Shanheng nodded and said.
Yang Wendong added: "In terms of industry, although financing is also needed, there is basically no leverage, and the factor that determines industrial development is overseas demand. This will basically only get stronger in the future."
"Haha , Yang Sheng's Changxing Industrial and Honor Electronics are getting stronger and stronger." He Shanheng said with a smile: "It's a pity that you have become the major shareholder of our bank, which has led to the inability to cooperate between us."
< br>"This is indeed a pity, but in the past In the future, Hang Seng can cooperate with some of my suppliers, and their scale is actually not small." Yang Wendong smiled and said: "And in the future, if we all go to Singapore to invest, we can also cooperate."
Liao Chuangxing can start his own business. Banks raised deposits for their own real estate companies, which eventually led to a run crisis in 1961, which almost affected other banks. After that, the Hong Kong government revised banking regulations, and banks were not allowed to lend money to shareholders or to industries controlled by shareholders. .
This is actually normal operation. Banks in many countries and regions have these basic restrictions. It was only the previous inaction of the Hong Kong government that gave Liao Chuangxing an opportunity. That is, he was bold and other bankers In fact, I have also discovered this problem, but no one with any brain dares to play like this.
"That's true. Although we can't cooperate directly, with Yang Sheng's name, Hengsheng will definitely develop better." He Shanheng said with a smile.
Although the losses in this run were quite large, it did not actually damage the foundation of Hang Seng Bank. With the addition of Yang Wendong, perhaps the entire bank will have greater potential in the future, especially the development of overseas business. We also need guidance from companies with overseas business.
Yang Wendong said: "I will not care about the bank's affairs. I still believe in He Sheng. If there is any demand, as long as it is reasonable, I will stand on He Sheng's side. ”
When he bought a stake in Hang Seng, he naturally didn’t want to annex it immediately. One is that annexation between Chinese companies is not popular in this era, and the other is that he is not good at finance. Once he gets involved, it will affect other aspects of his life. industry.
In the short term, the gains outweigh the losses. When your other industries are stabilized, you can start planning your own bank.
"Okay, I won't let investors down either." He Shanheng paused and then asked: "Yang Sheng, do you think Hang Seng Bank should be listed?"
"It's not a company yet. It's a good time." Yang Wendong shook his head and said: "The entire economy is stagnant now, and we can't raise much money by going public. It's better to wait. In two or three years, Hang Seng Bank's business will be fully restored, and then we can go public again. "
"Well, I am a little too impatient," He Shanheng said: "This run makes me feel that it is safer to go public. Once listed, all financials will be public, so as to avoid sudden incidents. Depositors who don’t know the situation are particularly vulnerable to instigation of bank runs.”
“Yes, for banks, it is better to go public,” Yang Wendong nodded.
Most companies in the world are listed companies, which naturally has its benefits. Yang Wendong's industries may also consider listing when various benefits for time travelers are almost available in the future.
Once listed, it can better bind the interests of multiple parties, thereby ensuring that the company can develop more steadily. Otherwise, if a private company is messed up by other governments, not many people will care.
After separating from He Shanheng, Yang Wendong did not return to the company, but returned home directly. During this period, the company's many service-oriented businesses in Hong Kong were in a contraction stage, and the export business was also in a state of contraction. It was going on normally, but he, the boss, was free.
After returning home, Bai Yushan was holding her child. When she saw Yang Wendong, she asked: "Has the board of directors meeting of Hang Seng Bank been completed? So soon?"
"It's no big deal. Let's open it naturally. Fast." Yang Wendong smiled and said: "Now Hang Seng Bank has just been severely weakened and is now in a strategic contraction stage. Naturally, there is nothing to talk about. "
The company is in an expansion period, so there are things that need to be negotiated. There are more, and although there will be some problems, in comparison, the workload is still much lower.
Moreover, as a director, Yang Wendong himself is not involved in the specific details of the operation of Hang Seng Bank. He only provides some suggestions and supervision.
He still believes in He Shanheng. After all, he can build a bank that can threaten HSBC from scratch. Although his vitality is severely damaged now, the team is still there, and with a little guidance from him, it will definitely be better in the future. take off.
Bai Yushan smiled and said: "Yes, but if you do this, will you offend HSBC? Didn't you say before that Changxing Group still needs to rely on HSBC for many industries?"
" If you offend, you will be offended. We have not turned against each other, we are just fighting in secret." Yang Wendong said nonchalantly: "And in business cooperation, interests come first. Even if we are offended today, we can still cooperate tomorrow as long as there are benefits."
< br>People are still realistic. Even though Pao Yugang robbed Wharf from Yihe in his previous life, the two parties cooperated again two years later.
In a small place like Hong Kong, if you do business in a big way, you will inevitably have conflicts with other companies. If you really break off the relationship after one conflict, then you will not do business in the future. This is the case even between countries. In the first few years, they fought life and death, but in the next few years, they became friends again. Everything was for profit.
Bai Yushan said: "That's true, but we can't count on HSBC, just in case they cause trouble."
"Don't worry, with this matter, I can also We have established a relationship with Citibank.” Yang Wendong added: “HSBC is indeed very influential in Hong Kong, but not internationally. In the future, the core of my business will still be overseas, and I won’t need to rely on HSBC.”
In the early days of entrepreneurship, although the market was also overseas, it was unlikely to rely on overseas financial capital at that time. Therefore, it relies more on banks in Hong Kong, especially HSBC, a "quasi-central bank" that has a large amount of foreign exchange in its hands.
But now that the scale of the industry is getting bigger and bigger, it is easy to cooperate with overseas banks. Even those wealthy people who have made achievements in Hong Kong alone are cooperating with overseas banks.
Diversification definitely does not just refer to the company’s industry, but involves all aspects. The business needs to be diversified, the production base needs to be diversified, the suppliers need to be diversified, the customers need to be diversified, and finally, financial financing also needs to be diversified. change.
"That's good." Bai Yushan said again: "I saw on TV and newspapers that there were many banks involved this time, and too many people went to withdraw money."
"There is no way "The foundation of Chinese-funded banks is still too weak," Yang Wendong said: "In addition, some banks do not have adequate risk management and control. As a result, this time, let’s take it as a lesson.”
The crisis of Chinese-owned banks is actually the Hong Kong government and British banks working together to harvest Chinese-owned banks through legal means. Once successful, they will be harvested. After that, you can reap huge profits and keep your own market, while at the same time leaving Chinese capital speechless.
Even though Yang Wendong is now very powerful, it is impossible to save all the banks. After all, saving Hang Seng will bring high profits to himself, but it is useless to save other people. If he does too much, he will really offend the British capital and the Hong Kong government.
Although he is not very afraid of British capital now, there is no need to offend him for no reason.
In the following days, everyone's affairs developed normally. Changxing Real Estate, the only company within the Changxing Group that relied on Chinese banks, had already cashed out and left. The run had little impact on Yang Wendong's industry;
The only bad thing is that there are still many people asking for leave during this period. There are too many people and the matter is too important for them, so the company can only agree.
"Yang Sheng, in the past half month, we lost about 5% of our production capacity." Wei Zetao reported: "This is the data after I arranged for some people who have not asked for leave to work overtime."
"From this point of view, it is very correct for us to build production bases in Wanwan and Singapore." Yang Wendong paused and said, "Those who agree to work overtime will be given a larger bonus after this matter is over."
“Okay.” Wei Zetao He promised: "I think the Hong Kong government has taken some actions recently, and the run is probably over soon."
"Maybe, but this run will hurt the bank too much, and the entire Hong Kong economy will be affected in the future. Ah." Yang Wendong said with a smile.
"Yes." Wei Zetao also nodded and said: "Many people have withdrawn money. Although they have kept their principal, the interest losses will be great, and their consumption will inevitably decrease in the future;
After this wave, banks will probably not lend money in the future.”
"Yes, but it has little to do with us. We are exporting." Yang Wendong said: "Right now, we still need to find ways to continue to restore production capacity, and then gradually transfer the new production capacity to Wanwan. Singapore is also doing this in advance. It’s better to investigate or communicate with the local government.”
“Yes,” Wei Zetao agreed.
The time soon came to the middle of March. On the 15th, Fang Xianming and Zou Wenhuai from Changxing Financial came to Yang Wendong’s office.
"Why are you here together?" Yang Wendong asked curiously. The two people's businesses seem to have nothing to do with each other.
Fang Xianming said: "Yang Sheng, it's like this. Last month, because we invested in Hang Seng Bank and prevented it from being bankrupt, many small banks in Hong Kong came to me during this time. , hope we can help them.
Originally, according to your request, we did not ask about the affairs of other banks, but there is a Far East Bank, which is quite special. The boss of this bank also owns more than 20 cinema chains and said he was willing to sell it to us, so I found Zou Sheng. After discussing it, I thought it was a good deal. ”
“Far East Bank? Is this boss named Qiu Degen? "Yang Wendong asked back.
Now the time has reached 1965, and the relatively famous rich people in the previous life have gradually started to make their fortunes, and Qiu Degen is one of them.
This early man also relied on He started as a cinema chain by building mobile cinemas in remote areas in the countryside and buying some old movies. Although the charges were cheap, the costs were very low and the profits were high. As a result, he earned a million Hong Kong dollars in a few years, and then built large-scale rural cinemas in the countryside. Theater.
He then used the funds from the film industry to enter the banking industry and established the Far East Bank; but in this wave of runs, the smaller banks were hit harder
Fang Xianming said: "Yes, Qiu Sheng's Far East Bank was also severely run. He wanted us to buy shares and then, like Hang Seng Bank, get rid of the run.
He even got the accounts directly. I took a quick look at my office, and there is indeed nothing wrong with it. It should be involved in the run crisis like Hang Seng. "
"We won't invest if there is no problem." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "Once we do, we won't invest. If we invest in a second bank, we don’t know how many banks will come to us again, and we will be troubled by that time.”
According to the original history, after this crisis, except for those acquired by HSBC. Hang Seng Bank and other banks all withered. Only when Chinese capital rose in the 1980s did Chinese banks get a little better, but they were still far behind British capital.
In fact, investing in Hang Seng himself is not 100% safe, but he also believes in He Shanheng's ability, so he can take a gamble. There is no business in this world without risks.
As for other banks, he is not interested.
Zou Wenhuai said: "Yang Sheng, I checked the locations of Qiu Deba's theaters. It can be said that they were carefully selected. If I can win them, it will control our control. The theater chain in Hong Kong will also be of great help."
"Okay, you can talk to Qiu Degen." Yang Wendong thought for a while and said, "But don't give it at the current price. I keep pressing on. I predict that house prices will fall by more than half. Let’s talk about it according to this;
As for his bank, don’t invest. It’s better to invest in one. If you invest too much, some people may say that I am adding insult to injury. Acquiring shares of Chinese-owned companies at low prices. "
In fact, housing prices will fall by more than half in 1967, but considering that Far East Bank was eventually acquired by an American bank in history, Qiu Degen will not be in crisis by then. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you will sell it to a theater chain. For a mature theater chain, you can buy it at a slightly higher price than the lowest price, but the value itself is not very high.
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(End of this chapter)