New Gods of North America.

Chapter 724 "Civilization"

After assigning tasks, Wayne had some free time again, and as evening approached, he even had time to listen to Seth's report with Mr. Paul.

The reason for this step is that Seth and his team are reviewing the Rabbit Gang's accounts today.

The detective agency follows a "courtesy first, then force" approach. As long as communication is still possible, the tax investigation team will first inform the other party of any issues they suspect, then listen to their explanations, and finally add their own analysis before submitting their conclusions to Wayne and his team.

With the specific tax and fee amounts already roughly agreed upon, this is essentially just a formality.

Mr. Paul had virtually no objections and was even willing to add a little extra money for any discrepancies in the accounts, appearing very generous and with an attitude of "as long as things are settled as quickly as possible."

Waiting at the temporary base was James Damody, who, sensing the unfavorable situation, had also brought the gang's accounts for auditing that day.
However, since it was already getting dark, even if Wayne was willing to let him cut in line, the accounts could not be reviewed until tomorrow at the earliest, and it was definitely too late today.

So Wayne invited James Damotic to stay for dinner.

After all, this guy was "actively cooperating with the collection of taxes," and Wayne couldn't let him look like he was being neglected, lest someone from another gang "suddenly have a bright idea" and come up with some strange ideas, adding unnecessary complications to the detective agency.

Mr. Paul was also very shrewd in his dealings with people. After discussing the relatively private issue of auditing the accounts, he still didn't leave the temporary office belonging to the detective agency partners. Instead, he stayed inside with Wayne and James Damotic, drinking lemon tea and eating hamburgers.
This not only provides an opportunity to learn some extra information during casual conversation, but also serves as a testimony on behalf of the gang members in the dock area, proving that at least the detective agency and the Rabbit Gang will not take advantage of a banker's troubles to deliberately make things difficult for the gang members associated with him.

As it turns out, James Damody had also gone to gather information today, and he was now basically certain that Mr. Schwartz, the banker, was going to be in trouble soon. He believed that Mr. Schwartz would probably have to pay some "atonement money" to certain gentlemen in Richmond, just like the gangsters in the dock area.
Mr. Paul also saw a business opportunity in this, thinking that since the banker was about to suffer a major financial loss, his company and bank might be short of cash. Therefore, "debt collectors" like James Damody should see a surge in business in the short term, and in order to maintain cash flow, related banking businesses would probably shrink, which would indirectly benefit "private lending".

Like James Damody, Wayne initially thought so too, and even joined in the banter.

The power struggle between the Secretary of State and the bankers is too far from the dock area, so there will certainly be an impact, but it probably won't be too big. At most, some people will suffer as much as the sailors.

Then Doug announced that Luke Matthews had come over again and needed to speak with Wayne alone.
Wayne, holding a half-eaten hamburger, left one office and went into another. Then, when Wayne saw Luke Matthew's expression, he sensed something was wrong.

Actually, Wayne had somewhat anticipated this, because Luke Matthews had been pushing for progress everywhere lately, like a relentless nag, constantly on the go.
He came over at noon today and is back again this evening. He must have run into some trouble that he needs to come over urgently to resolve.

But Luke Matthews looked more anxious than Wayne had imagined.
And the questions he asked were almost entirely unrelated to the cannery: "Wayne, do you have any funds in your Schwarz Investment Company account? Their main affiliated bank is Richmond Commercial Investment Bank."

“No.” Wayne first gave Luke Matthew a definite answer, then immediately understood his meaning. “Are those gentlemen ready to move on to the next step?”

"That's good." Luke Matthew breathed a sigh of relief before saying, "The Fisk family received some information and they feel that guy's bank is probably in trouble."

Wayne briefly recalled, "I have a general idea of ​​the situation over there. I heard that the banker might have to pay an extra 'atonement' recently, like the gangsters in the dock area, perhaps reaching the level of $100,000. But for a not-so-small bank, it shouldn't be enough to bankrupt it, right?"

Wayne's unspoken question was, "Why do you look so nervous?"
These days, banks in the United States can be roughly divided into two categories: one is what can be called "chartered banks," which at least have some state or city-level "official" elements; the other is "private banks," which can be completely privately owned by shareholders.
The most crucial difference between them lies in whether they can issue corresponding "banknotes" or "banknotes." Although the latter cannot print money themselves, they can still engage in activities such as depositing and storing, lending, and financial and foreign exchange transactions. Their capital scale may not be smaller than that of the former, and they are often subject to more lenient regulations.

Bankers' own assets may only represent a "small portion" or even a "zero" of the bank's total funds, but the actual flow of funds they can leverage is often enormous.

Even if some of the expenses seem substantial, bankers are adept at "robbing Peter to pay Paul." If the timeframe is long enough, a $100,000 "penalty" might not even affect their principal. Of course, anyone would feel the pain of having so much money cut from their pocket, but for bankers, it's likely at most a "hundred days of recuperation," far from being "life-threatening."

Luke Matthew shook his head coldly: "I thought so too before, so I didn't even think to remind you when I came here today. However, according to what the Fisk family has learned, it's not just some of the big families in Richmond who will be making moves this time, but several big families in the south have also expressed their intention to participate—once these behemoths unite and plan to use so much money, they're definitely going to 'eat people'."

Wayne was slightly taken aback, then realized: "Are they planning a massive bank run on Mr. Schwartz's bank?" Are they going to go that far?

For banks, a large-scale bank run in a short period of time is truly an intractable problem.
Banks have the advantage of being able to "quickly maneuver" massive amounts of funds; however, the problem is that the prerequisite for money to make money is "cash flow," and converting money into cash takes time.

No bank keeps all its cash in a vault. Instead, it uses various methods to circulate most of it, profiting through investments or loans, and keeping only a small portion for daily cash payments. Large transactions are mostly "transactions."

The foundation for banks to retain depositors is "confidence." Once their cash flow is disrupted, and depositors find themselves unable to withdraw cash in the short term, a vicious cycle may begin.
Customers can't withdraw their money—banks lend or liquidate assets at a discount—bank assets shrink or the market is fearful and hesitant—more customers try to withdraw cash until the bank is completely unable to honor its obligations.

Even if a bank still has assets such as "accounts receivable," "investment shares," and "land and real estate" on its books, it will still face bankruptcy if no one takes over in the short term due to a run on the bank and confidence is completely shattered.

Even if other banks are willing to help or want to take advantage of the situation, they will not get involved when a bank run breaks out unless they have enough cash and high credibility. Otherwise, they will easily suffer along with the bank runners.

And those large families who actually triggered the bank run might even appear innocent—we just withdrew our money from the bank, is there a problem?
“My guess is similar to yours.” Luke Matthew nodded slightly after hearing Wayne’s words. “I’m not qualified to know the specifics yet, but it’s said that the banker recently did something that clearly crossed the line, which angered these big families, who decided to carry out a kind of ‘public execution’ on him.”

"Bankers are usually very familiar with the law, and getting them to hand over their money is often more difficult than holding a knife to their throats. These large families may not have direct evidence against them, but as long as their funds are large enough, even if they don't break the law, they can still make these 'law-abiding' bankers suffer a terrible fate."

"Therefore, if you have any financial dealings with them, cut them off as soon as possible. If you act too late, that money may become nothing more than a number on paper that you can never withdraw. You will suffer a loss for nothing."

Good guy,
Even the gangs operating in the dock area wouldn't indiscriminately launch large-scale crackdowns.

These gentlemen were more "civilized" in a way, as they didn't have someone shoot Mr. Schwartz and send him to meet the Holy Spirit. But just thinking about the "bank collapse" could unexpectedly bankrupt many innocent people.

Wayne couldn't resist sharing the "insider information" he knew with Luke Matthew:
"I heard that the banker found a witness to accuse our Secretary of State of deliberately concealing the truth at a hearing. In nature, this is certainly a serious matter for politicians, but since the news has already been suppressed, is it really necessary for them to make such a big reaction?"

Luke Matthew paused for a moment before revealing the classified information he possessed: "According to the veiled warning I received, the Pryor family seems to be considering replacing their next heir—you see, even an established family has to pay such a high price, the inside story must be more serious than it appears. Our current task is simply to keep the cannery running; it's always better to be cautious."

Well……

Wayne was only offering "friendly support" to Inessa in helping the murdered witness clarify the truth.

At this point, I'm genuinely curious and want to know what the witness actually said.

What kind of outrageous situation would make someone want to "blow up" all the banks involved?

(End of this chapter)