Mixed in 1980

Chapter 333 Attack Trio

Not in the mood to listen to Chen Fan's rambling, Peng Dingkang quickly picked up the phone and dialed HSBC's Shen Daban's number: "How much money does Chen Fan have in HSBC?"

"I've already had someone gather the information!" Shen Bi wasn't sure either.

Chen Fan owns many companies, and each company has multiple accounts in addition to a basic account. We need to investigate to find out.

Spark Investment, in particular, engages in a wide variety of financial operations and has an even larger number of accounts.

But one thing is certain: the funds are enormous, an absolutely staggering amount. Chen Fan's personal account alone holds tens of billions of US dollars.

This only represents Chen Fan's personal deposits at HSBC, excluding those at other banks.

Peng Dingkang hung up the phone and immediately contacted the head of Standard Chartered Bank. The amount was smaller than that of HSBC, but it was still an astronomical sum.

"Fake..."

By diverting funds, banks can become short of reserves, triggering a run on banks and then attacking the stock market to make a fortune through short selling.

HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Hang Seng are all having a headache right now. They never expected Chen Fan to target them, and in such a way.

"Mr. Chen, how much funding will you allocate?"

As if playing the straight man in a comedy duo, the host followed up with a question, and Chen Fan smiled and said, "I'm not sure about the exact amount. There's too much money to remember, but it's probably several hundred billion Hong Kong dollars."

The host froze, swallowing hard.

Viewers in front of their televisions were stunned. Too much money to remember? Listen to what people are saying!
Hearing that it was worth hundreds of billions of Hong Kong dollars, everyone swallowed hard along with the host, but no one doubted that Chen Fan really had that much money.

The Soviet assets had not yet arrived in the accounts, but the scale of the assets acquired from Japan, Britain, Italy, and Hong Kong was unimaginable.

Especially in real estate, where a square meter now costs tens of thousands of yuan, Chen Fan bought in at a low price, and the money he has made over the years is an astronomical figure.

Moreover, several hundred billion Hong Kong dollars, when converted to US dollars, is only a few tens of billions.

The host quickly recovered and asked, "Mr. Chen, which bank will you transfer such a large amount of funds to?"

"Earth Bank!"

Dadi Bank was acquired by Yu Jing earlier. It was just a small bank with only three branches in Hong Kong, and its name was changed after the acquisition.

Chen Fan coughed lightly and said, "Now I'm more worried about whether HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Hang Seng have enough money in their accounts to withdraw such a large amount of funds at once?"

"From what I understand, these three banks have been doing a lot of lending recently, and the money has been borrowed by various companies, so the money in their accounts may not be enough."

After saying that, Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly.

He answered some more questions from the host, and the press conference came to an end, but the viewers watching on television were far from calm.

The bank is out of money?
Whether it's true or not, there are always some people with quick minds who rush to the bank, regardless of whether they have any money or not, just to withdraw their own money first.

At worst, you can just deposit it back in later. At most, you'll lose some interest, which is better than losing everything.

"Mr. Chen, the application has been submitted."

Yu Jing walked into the office and placed a document in front of Chen Fan: "According to the procedure, we will submit the application today, and the funds should arrive the day after tomorrow."

Chen Fan raised the corners of his mouth: "Will the money arrive?"

Yu Jing laughed heartily: "The British might drag their feet, or even negotiate with us, but HSBC and Standard Chartered should be fine."

"As for Hang Seng, we can only turn to HSBC for help."

"We need to make them drag it out. The longer they drag it out, the better it will be for us. We just need to do a good job of publicity." Chen Fan picked up the document and started reading.

Yu Jing nodded slightly: "Don't worry, all the media outlets not controlled by British capital have been taken care of. The financial program will be broadcast tonight, and the major newspapers will follow up tomorrow."

Chen Fan continued flipping through the documents: "Go ahead and get busy. When you get out, tell everyone that once the project is completed, everyone's bonus will be doubled."

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Chen!"

Yu Jing smiled and left. As soon as the news was announced, the busy crowd burst into laughter. The bonus was already high, and doubling it would be another windfall.

As night fell, the promotional campaign officially began!
The financial program commented on and analyzed the matter, but did not delve too deeply into whether the bank would default or be unable to repay deposits.

The focus of our discussion is on stock prices!

Banks make money from other people's money. If a large amount of funds is suddenly withdrawn, their revenue capacity will definitely decline, and their assets will also depreciate.

The most obvious effect was on the stock market. After the press conference, the share prices of the three banks began to decline slightly, and they will definitely continue to fall in the next few days.

HSBC's CEO, Mr. Shen, and Standard Chartered's CEO, Mr. Hong, both had grim faces. Deposits were being withdrawn, stock prices were falling, and they still had to allocate funds to stabilize the stock prices.

Shen Daban, in particular, was in a terrible mood. HSBC Holdings' Hang Seng Bank had defaulted, with severely insufficient reserves, making it impossible to repay the deposits of Chen Fan and his companies. They were seeking help from HSBC.

"What a ruthless scheme!"

Shen Daban narrowed his eyes, realizing Chen Fan's scheme. The large sums of money that had been loaned out to the bank over the past two months were all premeditated.

It depletes the bank's cash reserves!

"Payment cannot be delayed; it must be paid by the due date!"

If the bank defaults on its debt to Chen Fan, major media outlets will launch a massive campaign to publicize its inability to pay, inevitably causing a bank run.

We need to lend Hang Seng a sum of money.

The following day, HSBC began raising funds, and more bad news came: the Zhao family, where Hua Sanshao was based, also filed an application to withdraw deposits from three banks.

Next up is the Dong family, the shipping magnates!
With two of the three shipping magnates joining the fray, the pressure suddenly increased dramatically. Shen Daban suddenly realized that if things continued like this, HSBC would be unable to stabilize its share price.

The two shipping magnate families are very high-profile in their actions. They released information to the media at the same time, and after the media exaggerated the news, the stock price dropped significantly that day.

Although the British-controlled media fought back, claiming that the banks were capable of fulfilling their obligations, they could not cover up the fact that deposits were flowing out.

A drop in stock price is inevitable!

What's even more frightening is that a run on the bank occurred. Throughout the entire incident, everyone underestimated one thing, including Chen Fan himself.

That's Chen Fan's influence!
From Chen Fan's foray into futures trading in Hong Kong, to his raids on Britain to seize assets, and then his exploitation of Japan and the Soviet Union, every step he took was flawlessly executed.

When the British caused trouble for Chen Fan, they exposed all these things, leading many people to regard Chen Fan as a "stock market god".

The entire exchange rate battle of the British pound was broadcast live, making ordinary people trust Chen Fan's judgment even more.

Chen Fan said that the banks were unable to make payments, and many people believed him. Both of the two shipping magnate families followed suit, and no one dared to bet that the British could hold on.

I only feel at ease when my own money is in my own pocket!

Thus, a run on the bank occurred. Although it was not large in scale yet, it was bound to continue. Chen Fan couldn't possibly be without a backup plan.

Shen Bi gritted his teeth in pain. He hadn't rested well for two days and was really stressed. He could only make phone calls everywhere to borrow money and collect debts.

December 21, 1992!
According to the procedure, the payment has been due, so Chen Fan's money should be paid out first. Executives from HSBC, Standard Chartered and Hang Seng Bank appeared on a financial program at the same time.

HSBC is the largest bank in Hong Kong.

"We have sufficient reserves and enough high-quality assets to cope with any unforeseen circumstances, and there will never be a situation where we are unable to make payments."

"We have fully redeemed Mr. Chen Fan's personal deposits, as well as the deposits of various companies under Xinghuo Investment, and there are no problems whatsoever."

"Everyone should trust HSBC, and also trust Standard Chartered and Hang Seng. We are the cornerstone of Hong Kong's financial and economic stability."

……

That evening, people felt a little more at ease!
The next day, however, things took a dramatic turn. The Huo family, Li Hongying, Li Zhaoji, Hu Yingxiang, and Liu Jianxiong all jumped out and withdrew funds from the three banks.

"Fuck...Are these people crazy?"

When Governor-General Peng Dingkang saw the news, he angrily picked up an ashtray and smashed it, saying that such behavior by these people was tantamount to declaring war on Britain.

Without needing to ask, he knew that the bank was about to collapse. It wasn't that they didn't have the money, but that they couldn't withdraw that much money in a short period of time.

That's not the most frightening thing. These people are Hong Kong's top tycoons, and their actions have a strong influence on ordinary citizens.

A massive bank run is coming!

HSBC and Standard Chartered will certainly suffer heavy losses, but as global banks, they are capable of weathering the storm; it's just a matter of how much they lose.

As for Hang Seng, it's beyond saving!

HSBC is struggling to survive, how could it possibly spare the resources to rescue Hang Seng?
"We can't just sit here and wait to die; we have to put pressure on them."

Thinking of all this, Peng Dingkang quickly picked up the phone. If normal economic means were not working, then he would have to use administrative intervention to force them to submit.

Before the number could be dialed, footage of Chen Fan being interviewed appeared on the television screen.

"Given the recent performance of HSBC, Standard Chartered and Hang Seng, their true market capitalization is mismatched with their current share price and is extremely risky."

"Spark Investment will sell all its shares in the three banks and switch to shares in other companies."

P.S.: Second update! Thanks for your votes, everyone!
(End of this chapter)