In Hong Kong, we build a global business empire

Chapter 626: Angry Shen Bi, the number of branches doubled!
Bank of China Building, Cheung Kong Holdings Headquarters, Chairman’s Office.

After listening to the report from his subordinate General Liu, Li Jiacheng realized the seriousness of the matter.

This matter really had nothing to do with him, Li Jiacheng, but since it involved Huifeng Bank, he had to take it seriously.

After all, he has a deep connection with Huifeng Bank and they have many close business ties with each other. It is not an exaggeration to say that Huifeng Bank is his backer.

Otherwise, with his previous strength, it would have been impossible for him to take over Hutchison Whampoa.

It can be said that Li Ka-shing's acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa was like a snake swallowing an elephant.

After all, the market value of Hutchison Whampoa at that time was far higher than that of Cheung Kong Holdings.

As a result, Li Jiacheng snatched the most critical 22.4% of Hutchison Whampoa shares from Huifeng Bank at a very low price.

Without these 22.4% of Hutchison Whampoa shares, it would be basically impossible for Li Ka-shing to take over Hutchison Whampoa.

The reasons behind this are indeed complicated, but the core lies in the fact that Huifeng Bank gave strong support to Li Jiacheng at a critical moment and an agreement was reached between the two parties.

This support is not only reflected in the financial level, but also in the intricate interests and trust behind it.

Huifeng Bank is Li Jiacheng's backer, so naturally he doesn't want anything to go wrong with his backer.

Although this incident has little direct connection with him, once Huifeng Bank gets into trouble because of it, he, as an ally, will lose his biggest backer, which is something Li Jiacheng does not want to see.

"Mr. Liu, you did a great job on this report. The information is extremely important to me. Once it is verified, I will definitely not let you down for your contribution!" Li Jiacheng looked calm, but his tone revealed unquestionable composure.

Mr. Liu bowed slightly, his face full of gratitude, and said quickly: "Boss, you are too kind to me. It is my job to work for the group. However, the follow-up of the Huifeng Bank incident is really confusing, so we still have to plan a response strategy in advance."

"Well, I know what I'm doing. You don't have to worry about it for now. Just leave and I will handle it properly." Li Jiacheng waved his hand gently, signaling Mr. Liu to leave.

Since taking over Hutchison Whampoa, his prestige and voice in the group have been growing day by day, and his style of doing things has become more calm and decisive.

After Mr. Liu left the office, Li Jiacheng's originally calm expression suddenly became solemn.

His relationship with Lin Haoran was not very close, but because they were both top Chinese businessmen, they had often met in many business and social occasions, and their relationship was pretty good.

However, if he is asked to choose one of the two, either to support Huifeng Bank or to support Bank of East Asia, then he will definitely choose to support Huifeng Bank, without any doubt.

After all, his Cheung Kong Holdings Group is actually in competition with the Hutchison Whampoa Group.

One is his backer and the other is his competitor. Naturally, he would not support his competitor, Bank of East Asia.

What's more, the intricate ties of interest between him and Huifeng Bank have already tied them together tightly.

Huifeng Bank is now in deep crisis. If he sits back and does nothing, he will not only lose this powerful backer, but many of his business plans may also collapse.

Therefore, Li Jiacheng did not hesitate for a moment. He quickly picked up the encrypted phone on the desk and dialed Shen Bi.

After confirming that Shen Bi was at the headquarters of Huifeng Bank, he picked up the suit jacket hanging on the hanger, put it on and strode out of the office. At the same time, he said to the bodyguard and driver: "Prepare the car. I want to go to the headquarters of Huifeng Bank to talk to Mr. Shen Bi in person."

Half an hour later, Shen Bi had learned the news from Li Jiacheng.

It is actually very easy to investigate whether this news is true or false.

After all, according to the boss of Haitian Doors and Windows, close partners of Lin Haoran's companies, such as the Hong Kong Land Group and the Hong Kong Electric Group, have basically received their notice to transfer the company's financial business to the Bank of East Asia.

The number of companies involved here is very large, and it is too easy for them to confirm whether this is true.

So, not long after, Shen Bi got the exact results of the investigation.

Looking at the report in his hand, his face was as gloomy as the sky before a storm.

The report shows that Hongkong Land Group, Hong Kong Electric Group, Wan Ching Group and others, as close partners of Lin Haoran's companies, especially those business owners who are highly dependent on the business of Lin Haoran's companies, have indeed received relevant notices one after another.

However, these companies were subsequently instructed to suspend their established plans, and the reasons are unknown to the outside world.

But others may be confused, but as the key person involved, how could Shen Bi not know the inside story!
These companies suspended their plans simply to buy more time to short Huifeng Bank's shares.

"Well, Lin Haoran is really good at this!" Shen Bi laughed in anger, but there was a chill in his smile. The report in his hand made a slight sound of friction between the papers. "He thinks he can easily shake Huifeng Bank like this? It's wishful thinking!"

However, whether he admitted it or not, he actually understood at this moment that Huifeng Bank had raised its share price in the past two days, which had benefited Lin Haoran and allowed him to sell a lot of stocks at a high price.

Next, as long as Bank of East Asia acts according to the plan, the share price of Huifeng Bank will definitely suffer a blow, and Lin Haoran’s conspiracy to short-sell Huifeng Bank is likely to succeed!
At present, the share price of Huifeng Bank seems to be as stable as a rock, but in fact, they have forced the price up.

Once the plan of Bank of East Asia gets out, it goes without saying that the share price of Bank of East Asia will plummet like a broken dam.

By then, not only will the market value of Huifeng Bank shrink significantly, but its reputation and status in the market will also suffer severe damage, and it may even trigger a series of chain reactions, endangering the stability of the entire financial system.

The most important thing is that the market share of their Huifeng Bank has once again been greatly reduced after companies such as the Hong Kong Land Group transferred funds!
The last time, their Huifeng Bank’s deposit funds were reduced by nearly HK$20 billion.

This time, once they put it into practice, I am afraid the scale of capital outflow from Huifeng Bank will be even more shocking.

If the situation is allowed to develop in this way, the foundation of Huifeng Bank's years of painstaking efforts will be shaken, and it will be extremely difficult for it to regain market share and restore its former glory in the future.

However, do they have any reason to stop?
Those companies rely on companies such as Hong Kong Land Development and Hong Kong Electric Holdings for their livelihood. Companies such as Hong Kong Land Development have absolute commercial voice to influence the choice of partners.

"Mr. Li, thank you for telling us the news. Although it's a little late, it's better than us being kept in the dark. I won't entertain you anymore. We need to hold a high-level meeting immediately!" Shen Bi said solemnly.

"This is what I should do. After all, I am also a member of the board of directors of Huifeng Bank. Mr. Shen Bi, don't worry, Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Group will be the strongest backing of Huifeng Bank!" Li Jiacheng promised.

Shen Bi's expression improved a little, but he did not continue chatting with Li Jiacheng. Instead, he said a few more words and hurriedly left the office.

Last year, the total deposits of their entire Huifeng Bank were only HK$1312 billion.

This year, due to the ongoing oil crisis and the slowdown in the development of Hong Kong's real estate industry since the beginning of the year, the business of their Bank of Hong Kong is barely the same as last year.

After companies such as the Hong Kong Land Group transferred all their financial businesses, the total deposits of Bank of Hong Kong decreased by a full HK$20 billion.

This means that the actual total deposit amount of Huifeng Bank has been reduced to just over HK$1100 billion.

Although the "Choose One or Two" policy led to a run on the Bank of East Asia, and their Bank of East Asia took the opportunity to swallow up a lot of the Bank of East Asia's market, the amount involved was only a little over 3 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Comparing 20 billion and 3 billion Hong Kong dollars, the gap is obvious.

Originally, according to the normal development trend, Huifeng Bank would gradually make up for this loss as Hong Kong's economy develops.

However, before the damage was done, a new crisis arose.

If the current crisis caused by Lin Haoran cannot be properly resolved, Huifeng Bank will find it difficult to maintain its existing business, let alone make up for its losses.

You know, there are so many companies that rely on companies like Hong Kong Land Development and HK Electric Group for their survival!
This is like a mobile phone brand. There are hundreds or even thousands of supporting manufacturers in the upstream supply chain. Although the financial business needs of these supporting manufacturers may not seem huge individually, when combined together they are a size that cannot be ignored.

Companies such as Hong Kong Land Development and Hong Kong Electric Holdings are like that mobile phone brand. At the command, those companies that rely on them for survival have no choice but to comply and transfer their financial business to Bank of East Asia.

Although it is impossible to estimate how much financial business they are involved in and how much loss Huifeng Bank will suffer, it is obvious that it must be a huge number that Huifeng Bank cannot bear.

The losses may even be no less than the losses caused to Bank of East Asia when Lin Haoran's companies such as Hong Kong Land Development and Hong Kong Electric Group transferred their financial businesses to Bank of East Asia!
Thinking of this, Shen Bi quickened his pace.

"Notify all senior executives to come to the conference room within ten minutes. There are important matters to discuss and there can be no mistakes!" Shen Bi instructed the secretary beside him as he walked, with a sense of urgency in his voice.

The secretary did not dare to slack off at all. He quickly picked up the phone and began to notify the senior executives one by one.

Li Jiacheng naturally had no plan to stay in Huifeng Bank at this moment. For him, he had already done everything he should do.

As for what happens next, he believes that Shen Bi will handle it properly. As an ally, he also needs to continue to pay attention and be ready to provide support at any time.

Back in the car, Li Jiacheng leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes and thought, constantly sorting out the entire situation in his mind.

First it was Jardine Matheson, and now it’s Bank of Hong Kong. It seems like Lin Haoran was born to be the nemesis of British companies.

"We Chinese have really produced an extraordinary person!" Li Jiacheng exclaimed. Just as the senior executives of Huifeng Bank entered the emergency meeting, Lin Haoran and Dashan were also discussing important matters in the chairman's office of the Bank of East Asia headquarters, more than 100 meters away from the headquarters building of Huifeng Bank.

After receiving Dai Shi's report and knowing that all the shares of Huifeng Bank obtained with the assistance of Citibank in short selling were sold at a high price, he did not stay in Kangle Building for long and went directly to the headquarters of Bank of East Asia.

"What's going on inside the Bank of East Asia these days? Is everything normal?" Sitting on the chair in the office, Lin Haoran looked at Dashan, the current interim president of the Bank of East Asia, and asked.

"Boss, these few days are not much different from before. After the business of companies such as the Hong Kong Land Group was transferred to the Bank of East Asia, our business volume has also increased significantly. During this period, we have also recruited a lot of new people to handle the business volume transferred from companies such as the Hong Kong Land Group.

However, our 20 branches have become increasingly deserted during this period. For example, the Tsim Sha Tsui branch used to have dozens of customers handling business a day, but now there are only about a dozen customers on average. Other branches are basically experiencing similar situations.

The impact of Huifeng Bank's "choose one of two" strategy on our branch business has become more and more obvious! A branch manager reported that many employees are very worried about whether the branch will be closed due to reduced business volume. "Dashan reported.

Although the business of companies such as the Hong Kong Land Group was transferred to Bank of East Asia, which directly increased the business volume of Bank of East Asia by several times, the business of companies such as the Hong Kong Land Group was directly connected to the head office of Bank of East Asia and was rarely diverted to various branches.

The Bank of East Asia forced Hong Kong citizens to choose between two options, causing a large number of customers who originally belonged to the Bank of East Asia to move to the Bank of East Asia or other banks.

This has led to a sharp drop in business volume at the branch level and a significant reduction in employees' workload. The branch lobby, which had been bustling for a long time, is now deserted. Although the employees still stick to their posts, they can't help but show a bit of loneliness and worry on their faces.

After all, the reduction in business volume is directly related to their income and career development, and no one wants to see their bank decline.

Lin Haoran nodded. This was all within their expectations.

"How have you overcome the shortcomings of paying wages by bank transfer?" Lin Haoran continued to ask.

"At present, the biggest problem we face is that the existing computer transfer system is not perfect. If enterprises use bank transfer to pay wages, they still have to rely on manual operations to a large extent. In this way, we have to recruit a large number of auditors, which will undoubtedly greatly increase the internal costs of the bank.

Moreover, manual operations are not only inefficient but also prone to errors, which will have a huge negative impact on our bank's reputation and customer trust.

However, we have been actively learning from the advanced experience of European and American banks during this period. For example, the United States launched the ACH system as early as 1974. It can efficiently process batch electronic payments. Enterprises can easily realize batch transfers with the help of the ACH network.

European countries also have a number of mature systems, such as the UK's BACS and Germany's ECPS, which support companies to pay wages in batches electronically. Some countries have also achieved cross-bank transfers through the interbank network.

Fortunately, the salary transfer that our Bank of East Asia is about to implement does not require inter-bank transfers, so the difficulty of promoting electronic batch transfers is relatively small.

After some tough negotiations, our Bank of East Asia UK Office has reached a cooperation agreement with the UK BACS system. In a few days, the UK BACS system will send professionals to install the BACS system for our major branches of the Bank of East Asia.

It is estimated that the installation and preliminary debugging work will be completed in about half a month, after which we can carry out small-scale testing. Judging from the current progress, by August, Bank of East Asia will definitely be able to realize large-scale transfers within the bank!" Dashan reported the progress in detail and in an organized manner.

At the same time, he also handed Lin Haoran a contract for cooperation with the British BACS system company.

Lin Haoran nodded, took the contract and read it roughly.

He also did not ask why the British BACS system was chosen instead of the American ACH system. After all, this is a British colony, and choosing the British BACS system may indeed have more advantages in terms of communication and coordination, subsequent maintenance, and adaptation to the local financial environment.

Moreover, the UK's financial system is mature, and the BACS system has a certain reputation and application base in the UK and even internationally, so choosing it is a safe choice.

In other words, there are basically no obstacles to salary transfers, and now we just have to wait for the BACS system to be installed and put into testing.

"Boss, there is another important matter that I need to report to you in detail." Dashan leaned forward slightly with a serious expression.

"Well, you say." Lin Haoran put down the documents in his hand and looked towards the mountain.

"I plan to double the number of branches of Bank of East Asia, but this matter involves a lot of things, and I must get your support first." Dashan said sincerely.

Currently, Bank of East Asia has 20 branches. Doubling the number would mean increasing the number of Bank of East Asia's branches to 40.

"Oh? Why is that? Currently, the business volume of each branch has dropped sharply, and a lot of employees are idle. Why do we suddenly need to add more branches?" Lin Haoran frowned slightly, his eyes full of confusion.

“Now due to the reduction in business, the workload of each branch has indeed been greatly reduced. However, after August, once companies such as Hong Kong Land Development, Hong Kong Electric Group and Wan Ching Group transfer wages through Bank of East Asia, then our individual customers will increase by more than 8 people.

With so many new customers, our 20 branches are definitely not enough. If we do not add more branches in advance, problems such as low business processing efficiency and long waiting time for customers may cause dissatisfaction and complaints from customers, which will affect the reputation and market competitiveness of our Bank of East Asia."

Dashan looked serious and explained his ideas to Lin Haoran in a clear and logical manner.

Lin Haoran frowned slightly and fell into deep thought.

Adding branches is indeed a major decision, involving many aspects such as capital investment, staff recruitment, and venue leasing, which must be carefully considered.

But in the long run, as the salary transfer business is implemented, the business expands and the number of customers increases, the existing number of branches is indeed far from meeting future demand.

After all, after receiving their salary, the employees don’t want to just watch it lie in the bank; they have to withdraw it if they need it.

By then, the demand for withdrawing money, checking balances, and handling other related financial services will inevitably increase significantly.

If the number of branches is insufficient, the customer experience will inevitably be greatly reduced. In the long run, even if the salary transfer business brings in a large number of customers, they may be lost due to the failure of subsequent services to keep up.

Lin Haoran stood up from his chair and walked around the office several times.

He had indeed not considered this problem before, after all, he was not a professional.

"Your consideration makes sense."

Lin Haoran spoke slowly, tapping his fingers on the table. "However, adding branches is not a trivial matter. Funding is not the biggest problem, but recruiting and training staff takes time, and renting and decorating the venue also requires a certain period of time.

From preparation to official opening, will we be able to complete this series of processes in time? "

Dashan was well prepared and said quickly: "Boss, I have made a preliminary plan. In terms of personnel recruitment, we can release recruitment information in advance and give priority to selecting talents from finance-related majors. At the same time, we will select some potential employees from the existing branches for key training as the backbone of the new branch.

As for venue leasing, I have asked people from the administrative department to start looking for suitable locations in various regions. At the same time, we are cooperating with the Hong Kong Land Group and others. We already have some alternative plans.

As for decoration, we can adopt a standardized decoration style and speed up the construction progress. According to my estimation, if we start preparations now, we should have no problem opening 8 new branches before August, and then gradually increase the number according to actual conditions. "

The Hong Kong Land Group owns the most commercial properties in Hong Kong, and all of them are located in core commercial areas. Therefore, when cooperating with the Hong Kong Land Group, site selection is indeed not a difficult problem.

Lin Haoran nodded and agreed directly: "Okay, I approve this!"

Now it is June 6th, and tomorrow we will enter July.

In other words, there is only one month left before they plan to implement salary transfer in August.

Therefore, once the decision is made to add a branch, all work must be advanced against the clock to ensure that the new branch can be opened and put into operation smoothly before the salary transfer business is fully rolled out.

"Boss, please sign this."

Dashan handed Lin Haoran a plan for adding branches, which detailed the budget, site selection plan, staff recruitment and training plan, etc.

Lin Haoran took the plan, quickly glanced through it, and after confirming that all the arrangements were reasonable and feasible, he picked up a pen and signed his name at the end of the document.

"By the way, how many branches does Huifeng Bank have in Hong Kong?" Lin Haoran suddenly looked up and asked.

"Currently, Huifeng Bank has a total of 36 branches in Hong Kong!" Dashan replied.

"Won't it be that in the future there will be more branches of Bank of East Asia than Bank of Hong Kong?" Lin Haoran said in surprise.

Dashan smiled slightly, his eyes revealing confidence and ambition: "Boss, this is exactly what I want to achieve. The number of branches not only represents the bank's coverage and service capabilities, but also an important reflection of customer trust and market competitiveness.

Moreover, once the subsidiaries of companies such as the Hong Kong Land Group transfer their financial businesses to Bank of East Asia, and if we also take over the businesses of the employees, as long as we move forward steadily, in the near future, Bank of East Asia's market share may not surpass that of Bank of East Asia, but it will be able to approach that of Bank of East Asia.

The reason why Huifeng Bank currently has only 35 branches in Hong Kong is that they do not have any business related to salary transfers, but rather provide services targeting large enterprises and high net worth customers.

If our Bank of East Asia can use its salary transfer business to attract a large number of individual customers, and then gradually expand its business scope, improve service quality, and gain advantages in the number of branches and service network, our market share will naturally rise.

By then, our branch number advantage will be further highlighted, becoming an important trump card for us in market competition, and the "choose one of two" plan that Huifeng Bank and the Hong Kong Banking Association, which they control, have come up with against our Bank of East Asia, will naturally fall apart. "

A glimmer of approval flashed in Lin Haoran's eyes. He was pleased with Dashan's strategic vision and planning ability.

(End of this chapter)