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Seeing this, Lin Haoran looked calm and slowly said, "Mr. Shen Bi, since you have made your position clear, I will speak frankly. If we want Bank of East Asia to compete with other banks in a fair environment, the Hong Kong Banking Association's elimination of the unfair practice of 'choose one of two' is only the first basic step.

In addition, regarding the 5% deposit interest, it is absolutely impossible to stop this immediately. I need a one-month buffer period. After one month, I will adjust the interest rate back.

This one-month buffer is a small compensation for the losses suffered by Bank of East Asia when it was treated unfairly.”

He just wants to ask for a huge sum of money.

In fact, let alone a month, even in half a month, the deposit funds in Huifeng Bank and other major banks in Hong Kong may be almost gone.

By that time, even if it stopped, Bank of East Asia would have already become the dominant player in the deposit market.

Other banks may have fallen into various crises such as bank runs and capital shortages, including Huifeng Bank.

Lin Haoran certainly knew that one month was impossible.

But he also understood that negotiation is a game of psychology and strategy. He proposed these seemingly harsh conditions in order to gain more initiative and room for maneuver in subsequent negotiations.

If the conditions he proposed were too simple, wouldn't others think he was easy to bully?
By that time, not only will it be impossible to obtain the due compensation for the interests of Bank of East Asia, but other banks may also think that Bank of East Asia is weak and can be bullied, and they may intensify their suppression in the future.

As soon as Lin Haoran said this, Shen Bi could no longer bear it. He slammed his hand on the table, his eyes wide open, and shouted: "Lin Haoran, don't be too pushy! In the one-month buffer period, you are going to turn the order of Hong Kong's financial market upside down! Do you think everyone here is a fool and you can manipulate them at will?"

He has decided not to continue with the 'choose one or the other' policy, which he can accept, but one month?

He didn't know why Lin Haoran thought that Bank of East Asia could absorb deposits at an interest rate of 5% and still keep the bank from losing money, but this was not what he was considering at the moment.

Shen Bi only knew that he had to stop the Bank of East Asia as soon as possible, otherwise their Huifeng Bank might really be finished.

Depositors' deposits are definitely the core business of major banks. Once they lose these markets, they will find it difficult to mobilize funds.

The heads of other banks were also dissatisfied with Lin Haoran's exorbitant demands and joined the ranks of condemning him.

"Mr. Lin, your conditions are really too much. During the one-month buffer period, the capital flow in Hong Kong's financial market will be completely unbalanced, and many banks will suffer huge shocks. This is absolutely unacceptable to us." A bank executive was full of indignation and spoke harshly.

"Yes, Mr. Lin, perhaps we handled the previous matter improperly. I admit that what the Hong Kong Banking Association did was indeed unfair, but you are obviously taking the opportunity to retaliate and have no sincerity in negotiation." Another person in charge also echoed, his eyes full of dissatisfaction and accusations.

Even Governor MacLeod felt that Lin Haoran's conditions were too much. He said, "Mr. Lin, I understand your demands. Bank of East Asia has suffered unfair treatment before and deserves compensation, but a one-month buffer period will indeed have an unpredictable impact on Hong Kong's financial market.

The stability of the financial market concerns the vital interests of every citizen and also affects Hong Kong's position on the international financial stage. We need to carefully weigh the pros and cons."

Lin Haoran bowed slightly to show respect to the Governor, and then said slowly: "Mr. Governor, I understand your concerns, but you also know that the losses suffered by Bank of East Asia when it was suppressed by the 'choose one of two' policy cannot be made up overnight.

This one-month buffer period is not intended to disrupt the market, but to allow Bank of East Asia to gradually recover and regain its footing in a relatively fair environment.

Lin Haoran's words immediately caused many people present to secretly curse him as despicable.

Recover strength?

Although Bank of East Asia was ranked fourth in Hong Kong in the past, it only occupied about 3% of the market share.

Today, the Bank of East Asia has reached nearly 30%. If it goes one step further, won’t it surpass the dominant Bank of East Asia?
If this is called a heavy loss, then what are the losses of these banks called?
Shen Bi's face became increasingly gloomy, like a dark cloud before a storm. He clenched his hands into fists, suppressed the rage in his heart, and gritted his teeth as he said, "Lin Haoran, don't confuse people and confuse right and wrong here!
Isn't the rapid increase in the market share of Bank of East Asia these days due to the high interest rate of 5% to attract deposits? As far as I know, in just three days, the deposit funds of Bank of East Asia have increased by several billion Hong Kong dollars, which has long exceeded the losses suffered by your Bank of East Asia after the Hong Kong Banking Association implemented the "choose one of two" policy.

You are also trying to use a one-month buffer period to consolidate this unfair advantage. It is simply wishful thinking and fantasy! Mr. Governor, I strongly suggest that the Legislative Yuan immediately introduce a policy to force a deposit interest rate cap to prevent the Bank of East Asia from engaging in such near-monopolistic behavior! "

Lin Haoran was not moved at all. He still looked calm, and he swept his eyes over everyone and said slowly: "Everyone, my proposal is not groundless. Everyone knows the unfair treatment suffered by the Bank of East Asia before.

This one-month grace period is a reasonable compensation for our losses and is also to allow the market to gradually return to the track of fair competition. If you are not willing to give even this little compensation, how can you say that it is fair and just? "

Shen Bi was so angry that he was shaking all over. He pointed at Lin Haoran and could hardly speak.

Lin Haoran smiled slightly and continued slowly: "Mr. Shen Bi, why are you so excited? You think that our Bank of East Asia is too much now, but have you ever thought about whether you had a trace of mercy and fairness when you used unfair means to block the development of our Bank of East Asia and forced us into a desperate situation?

The unfair policy of 'choose one of two' was like a sharp knife that stabbed the heart of Bank of East Asia. How many customers were lost and how much business was stagnant? How can such losses be measured by simple numbers?

You are allowed to set fires, but we are not allowed to light lamps? How can this be justified? Now that we, the Bank of East Asia, are just using reasonable means to save the situation, you are so anxious that you keep saying that we are disrupting the market. Don’t you think it’s ridiculous?”

"Alright, alright, everyone calm down and say less. If we continue to argue like this, not only will we not reach a conclusion, but the conflict will only become more acute. This will undoubtedly be a huge disaster for the entire financial industry in Hong Kong."

Governor MacLehose saw that the situation was tense and ready to explode, so he quickly spoke up to smooth things over and try to quell the "storm" that was about to break out.

When the scene became quiet again, with a pin drop audible and everyone's eyes focused on him, Mai Lihao cleared his throat and continued, "Mr. Lin, to be honest, the one-month buffer period you proposed is indeed beyond what everyone can accept. Look, in order to facilitate this negotiation, you should make more concessions.

Mr. Shen Bi, for the stable and healthy development of Hong Kong's financial industry, you also need to show some sincerity and make certain concessions. What do you think? "

Shen Bi snorted heavily and turned his head away, but his chest was still heaving violently, and it was obvious that his anger had not subsided.

Lin Haoran's expression was calm, but he still looked at Shen Bi indifferently without backing down.

Mr. Brown also stood up at this time, spread his hands, and said with a gentle smile on his face: "Mr. Governor is right, we are gathered here today to solve problems, not to create new conflicts.

Mr. Lin, Mr. Shen Bi, we all understand the positions and demands of both sides. How about we both take a step back and find a compromise? "

Lin Haoran nodded slightly and said, "Mr. Brown, I am not an unreasonable person, but the unfair treatment suffered by Bank of East Asia must be properly resolved.

I think this one-month buffer period is a reasonable compensation period, but since everyone thinks it’s too long, I’m willing to make some concessions.”

When Shen Bi heard that Lin Haoran was willing to compromise, his expression eased a little, and he said, "Three days. We will only give Bank of East Asia three days to adjust the interest rate. After three days, it must be adjusted back to a reasonable market level immediately, otherwise we will never compromise again!"

Lin Haoran couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. He shook his head and said, "Mr. Shen Bi, three days? That's too much of a joke. In three days, Bank of East Asia can hardly complete basic business adjustments and customer communication, let alone let the market gradually adapt to interest rate changes. That's impossible. 15 days, I'm willing to reduce the time by half, which is also my sincerity."

"Impossible, the Bank of East Asia has sucked up all the deposits in Hong Kong in just half a month!" Shen Bi stood up suddenly, his hands on the table, his eyes full of anger. "Lin Haoran, don't push your luck! Our Huifeng Bank and many other banks in Hong Kong can't stand your tossing and turning. These 15 days and one month are essentially fatal to us. How can this be considered sincerity?"

……

After intense and fierce negotiations, with the mediation of Governor MacLehose and repeated tug-of-war between representatives of all parties, the two sides finally reached a compromise, with a five-day buffer period as the core clause of the agreement.

Behind this, in fact, was the result of Mai Lihao explaining the pros and cons to Lin Haoran and exerting a certain amount of pressure on him, while at the same time patiently persuading and appeasing Shen Bi's side.

It is worth mentioning that these five days do not include the day of negotiation. That is to say, starting from the day after the agreement takes effect, Bank of East Asia actually has a six-day buffer period to adjust its business.

In general, the Governor's Office is definitely biased towards Huifeng Bank, but Lin Haoran is actually very satisfied with the buffer time that was negotiated.

At least it will not stop immediately. There are still six days left, which is enough time for Bank of East Asia and Daoheng Bank to absorb a lot of deposits from depositors.

In addition, the meeting reached an important consensus.

After the buffer period ends, Hong Kong's financial industry will introduce new regulations to strictly limit the deposit interest rate ceiling for all banks.

Specifically, for customer funds with a deposit size of more than HK$1 million, the interest rate shall not exceed 1% for either a 5-year or 3-year fixed deposit;

For customers of small and medium-sized banks with deposit size below HK$1 million, the deposit interest rate cap is set at 3.5%.

The move aims to bring the current market conditions distorted by high-interest competition back to a relatively stable and reasonable state, so that small and medium-sized banks can find room for survival and development under the competitive pressure from large banks.

Moreover, after the legislation, there will no longer be such vicious competition for attracting deposits with high interest rates. Banks can focus more on improving service quality, innovating financial products and expanding diversified businesses, which is of great significance to the long-term and healthy development of Hong Kong's financial industry.

Lin Haoran had no dissatisfaction with this.

At the very least, this ending was much better than he had imagined.

According to the clear trend, in the next five or six days, Bank of East Asia and Dao Heng Bank will be able to absorb at least HK$10 billion in depositors' funds. This is already a very fruitful result for Bank of East Asia.

He also never imagined that he could completely destroy Huifeng Bank by using high interest rates.

"Mr. Governor, I have a proposal." After everyone signed the agreement, Lin Haoran looked at Mai Lihao and said with a smile.

"Lin Haoran, what else do you want to do?" Shen Bi looked at Lin Haoran warily.

The high interest rate was extended for five or six days and their Huifeng Bank would lose at least tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars of depositors' funds, which was already unacceptable to him.

Therefore, he was very wary of Lin Haoran, fearing that he would make new and harsh demands, which would make the situation of Huifeng Bank even worse. Mai Lihao raised his hand slightly, signaling Shen Bi to calm down, then looked at Lin Haoran and said, "Mr. Lin, if you have any suggestions, just say it. As long as it is conducive to the stability and development of Hong Kong's financial industry, we can discuss it together."

Lin Haoran bowed slightly and said, "Mr. Governor, this incident was actually initiated by the so-called Xiangjiang Banking Association. Under the control of Huifeng Bank, this association has actually become a tool for them to suppress competitors and maintain their monopoly position.

I propose that the government should intervene in the Hong Kong Banks Association, carry out a comprehensive reform of the Hong Kong Banks Association, and re-draft the association's charter to ensure that it operates fairly, equitably and openly, and truly serves all banks in Hong Kong, rather than becoming a "private tool" of one or a few banks.

Only when the Hong Kong Banking Association is led by the government can a fair competition environment in Hong Kong's financial industry be guaranteed to the greatest extent possible, and unfair policies such as "choose one of two" be avoided from reappearing, thus safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of all banks."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was a slight commotion at the scene again.

Shen Bi's face turned extremely ugly in an instant. It can be said that the Hong Kong Banking Association has become a tool for major silver banks such as Huifeng Bank and Standard Chartered Bank to maintain their interests.

Now, Lin Haoran openly suggested that the trusteeship area of ​​the Hong Kong Banking Association be transferred to the Hong Kong government, which would undoubtedly shake up the industry structure that they have painstakingly built up over a long period of time.

He was about to open his mouth to refute, but was stopped by Mai Lihao's eyes.

"Mr. Lin's suggestion is good. I think it is feasible. I will discuss this matter with the Director of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority later." Mai Lihao said directly.

Lin Haoran's proposal had only advantages and no disadvantages for the Governor's Office, so he naturally agreed to it.

Shen Bi stared at Lin Haoran fiercely, but there was nothing he could do.

In fact, he also knew that the behavior of Huifeng Bank in recent times had caused unrest in Hong Kong's financial industry and had actually caused the Governor's Office to be dissatisfied with them.

Now, the Governor's Office is just taking advantage of this opportunity to reform the Hong Kong Banking Association in order to further regulate the order of the financial industry and reduce the occurrence of unstable factors in Hong Kong's financial industry. How can he stop it?

This mediation negotiation lasted nearly three hours.

After leaving the Governor's Mansion, Lin Haoran went directly to the Bank of East Asia and told Dashan, the head of the Bank of East Asia, about the matter.

Although Dashan felt a little sorry that Bank of East Asia could only continue for 5 days, he also knew that this was already an ideal result.

"Boss, don't worry. In the remaining few days, I will do my best to allow the Bank of East Asia to attract as much depositors' funds as possible and lay a solid foundation for the long-term development of the bank." Dashan said solemnly.

"Well, come on, I believe in you!" Lin Haoran patted Dashan's shoulder and said with a smile.

At the same time, Huifeng Bank headquarters building.

After returning to the office, Shen Bi became angrier and angrier. Although today's result finally made Lin Haoran bow his head, their Huifeng Bank also paid a heavy price.

The five-day buffer period was enough for the Bank of East Asia to devour a lot of depositors' resources like a greedy glutton.

In addition, Huifeng Bank might lose control of the Hong Kong Banking Association in the future. How could he swallow this?

"Bang!" Shen Bi slammed his fist on the desk, and the documents on the desk jumped up.

His face was so gloomy that it seemed like water could drip out of it, and his eyes were full of anger and unwillingness.

"Lin Haoran, Bank of East Asia, I will settle this account with you sooner or later!" Shen Bi growled in a low voice with gritted teeth.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Shen Bi suddenly slapped his forehead and remembered that during this negotiation, Hengsheng Bank Chairman Ho Shanheng did not go to the Governor's Mansion to put pressure on Mai Lihao.

This means that He Shanheng did not follow the pace of Huifeng Bank at all.

This discovery made Shen Bi's rage surge even higher.

Although Hengsheng Bank claims to be independent to the outside world, it has actually been subject to many constraints from Huifeng Bank. It has to act according to Huifeng Bank's wishes on many matters. To put it bluntly, it is a subsidiary of Huifeng Bank.

He Shanheng's behavior now simply shows that he does not take Shen Bi, the helmsman of Huifeng Bank, seriously!
Thinking of this, Shen Bi called his secretary in directly: "Call He Shanheng over here, I have something to tell him."

"Okay, Mr. Boss, I'll call Mr. He's secretary right away." The secretary respectfully left Shen Bi's office.

On the other side, the headquarters of Hengsheng Bank.

When the negotiations at the Governor's Office were concluded, He Shanheng was the first to receive the final result.

He was not surprised by the result.

However, at this moment, his heart was filled with complicated feelings.

At the beginning, when he met with Lin Haoran privately, they made a bet that as long as the Hong Kong Banking Association cancelled the so-called "choose one of two" policy against the Bank of East Asia, then he, He Shanheng, would go to the Bank of East Asia to serve as the head.

Now, it is obvious that the bet has taken effect, and He Shanheng has to seriously consider whether to fulfill his promise.

He Shanheng sat on a chair in his office, tapping the table lightly with his fingers from time to time, his eyes full of hesitation and struggle, as if a fierce tug-of-war was going on in his heart.

On the one hand, he has an inseparable attachment to Hengsheng Bank.

After all, this bank is the result of his countless efforts and was founded by him.

Even though it was later acquired by Huifeng Bank, under his careful management over the years, Hengsheng Bank has always maintained its unique operating style and development trend. Every brick, tile, blade of grass and tree here carries his memories and emotions.

But on the other hand, the booming development of Bank of East Asia under the leadership of Lin Haoran was like a huge magnet, deeply attracting him.

The future blueprint for Bank of East Asia described by Lin Haoran is full of infinite possibilities and opportunities, making him feel as if he has seen the rise of a bright new star in the financial world.

As long as he can become the head of Bank of East Asia, with the resources of Lin Haoran, the richest man in Hong Kong, he believes that he will be able to make a big splash on this vast stage.

Perhaps one day, I will become a figure who leaves a significant mark in financial history like Walter Wriston, chairman of Citibank, and John Pierpont Morgan, founder of Morgan Bank.

It is his dream to become a world-class banker.

However, with the acquisition of Bank of East Asia, the flame of this dream gradually died out.

But at this moment, the flame that had been extinguished for a long time suddenly lit up again.

"Mr. He, Mr. Shen Bi's secretary called and said that Mr. Shen Bi wants you to come over." At this time, He Shanheng's secretary knocked on the door and said softly.

He Shanheng frowned slightly and thought to himself, "Shen Bi is looking for me now, he must be asking for punishment for the negotiation."

"Okay, I got it. I'll be there in a minute. You go out first." He Shanheng looked at the secretary and said.

When the secretary gently closed the office door, the room suddenly fell into silence, so quiet that I could hear my own slightly rapid breathing.

He Shanheng rested his hands on the edge of the desk, his head slightly lowered, his eyes wandering across the table. His heart was like a lake disturbed by a strong wind, with tangled emotions surging endlessly.

After a long while, he seemed to grit his teeth, then he stood up suddenly and picked up a flat piece of white paper from the table.

His fingers unconsciously stroked the edge of the paper. He took a deep breath and grabbed the pen. As soon as the tip of the pen touched the paper, his hand trembled slightly uncontrollably.

He calmed himself and wrote stroke by stroke. It seemed as if he used up all his strength to write each word, as if he wanted to pour all his past experiences into them. In the end, he had filled a whole sheet of paper.

After writing the last word, he slowly put down the pen, carefully folded the paper, and solemnly stuffed it into a brand new envelope.

Then, he picked up the pen and slowly wrote three powerful yet somewhat heavy words on the envelope: Resignation letter!
He Shanheng's hand holding the pen trembled slightly. The moment he put pen to paper the three words "resignation letter", he felt mixed emotions.

After years of operation and management, Hengsheng Bank has become an indispensable part of his life, but the promising future of Bank of East Asia is like a flame that continues to burn his heart.

He stood up and paced back and forth in the office, his eyes falling on the resignation letter from time to time.

The envelope lay quietly on the desk, as if carrying all his entanglement and determination.

"I, He Shanheng, have been working in the financial industry all my life. Am I going to be trapped in this small world of Hengsheng Bank forever? Lin Haoran gave me an opportunity, an opportunity to realize greater ambitions. Isn't this also an opportunity I am giving myself?
I don’t have many years left in my life. If I don’t fight now, will I go to the grave with regrets?” He muttered to himself, as if to cheer himself up.

Thinking of this, He Shanheng finally made up his mind, picked up the suit on the hanger, put it on, and then put the letter into the suit pocket.

Then, he strode out of the office of the chairman of Hengsheng Bank. (End of this chapter)