America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 375 When you're sleepy, a pillow is delivered.

Ernst spent two days at Ernst Asset Management, where he secured a total of $55 billion in commercial loans from seven commercial banks, using Google stock as collateral.

The largest lender was not a Wall Street bank, but the Boston Consortium's Bank of Boston, which contributed $12 billion in loans.

The Boston Consortium is now extremely interested in Google. They thought the pre-money valuation of $40 billion in their second round of financing was too high, but now, just one year later, Google's valuation has reached over $1500 billion. This rate of wealth growth is unprecedented in the history of the entire capital market, and anyone who sees it will be envious. You can imagine the regret and resentment in the heart of the Boston Consortium.

After the Boston Bank delegation left Ernst Asset Management, Ernst invited Massim, who had accompanied them, to his private office.

As soon as he entered, Ernst said to Massim in an undisguised tone, "I'm telling you, you think you can acquire Google shares just by pledging stock? Isn't that a bit too far-fetched?"

His tone was full of disdain for Boston Bank, but also carried a hint of mockery.

The disdain mainly stemmed from Boston Bank's petty-mindedness, while the mockery stemmed from the feeling that Boston Bank's ideas were too idealistic, even somewhat unrealistic, as if it were trapped in a fantasy.

Boston Bank's plan was simply to hope that Google would suffer a major setback in the investment process, ultimately losing all its capital and being unable to repay the equity-backed loans. At the same time, they hoped that a black swan event would occur at Google, causing its valuation to plummet, so that they would have no choice but to repay the debt through debt-to-equity conversion.

But Ernst thought this idea was utterly absurd, or to put it bluntly, ridiculously ridiculous.

If it really comes to that, would your Boston consortium dare to take over this share?

Faced with Ernst's disdain and teasing, Massim looked helpless. He shrugged and replied with a sigh, "It's not up to me. What can I do?"

Regarding the issue of Google's equity, Massim and Ernst spoke on the phone multiple times. Each time, Massim expressed his desire to buy Ernst's Google shares, but each time Ernst's pricing of the Google shares was outrageous, far exceeding the Boston consortium's expectations, and each negotiation ended in failure.

But whenever they see Google's valuation continue to climb, breaking one new high after another, the Boston Consortium is filled with regret, and everyone is kicking themselves.

Even so, they still dared not make a move easily.

For those older folks, the internet industry was a completely new field, full of unknowns and uncertainties.

Google's astonishing rate of wealth growth did not present them with tremendous opportunities; instead, it made them uneasy because they had never seen anything like it before—it was simply too outrageous.

It's not just the Boston Group; all eight traditional American financial groups have this problem.

"So, what exactly do you want to do with the $12 billion you borrowed?" Massim changed the subject, curious about what big move the other party planned to make with the $12 billion.

He doesn't know that Ernst didn't borrow $12 billion at all. If he knew that Ernst's total debt exceeded $70 billion, I wonder what he would think.

After all, such a huge loan, when leveraged, carries unpredictable risks and potential market impacts.

When asked by Massim, Ernst answered candidly, "Stock trading, of course."

Ernst was telling the truth, but Massim's face showed obvious doubt, as if to say: Are you taking me for an idiot?

He believed that Ernst must have a deeper, more complex plan, but he was just unwilling to reveal it to him.

Since the other party was unwilling to elaborate, Massim didn't press further. Instead, he asked a question that had always intrigued him: "So, how much Google stock do you actually own?"

Massim simply did not believe that Ernst's stake in Google was only 11.7% as reported by the media. He was certain that Ernst would hide his true wealth through various means, but he was very curious about exactly how much he had hidden.

Massim clearly didn't believe him. He glared at Ernst and pouted in dissatisfaction. "If you don't want to say, then don't. There's no need to be so perfunctory with me."

He picked up Ernst's prized cigar from the table, grabbed a cigar cutter, and fiercely cut off a large section of the cigar, as if venting his anger at Ernst's earlier perfunctory attitude.

He then carefully polished the cigar, picked up a lighter, lit it, and slowly uttered, "Green's here."

Upon hearing the name, Ernst's brow furrowed instantly.

No wonder Massim didn't leave with the Boston consortium members; he originally thought they stayed to catch up with him, but it turns out they had something to do.

But what's this guy doing in New York at this time? And what does he need my help with this time?

The matter of the group conspiring to hype up artworks last time is now starting to get on track.

Although the painter they found isn't very well-known yet, he's already quite famous, especially among the middle class.

According to their previous plan, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the price of this painter's works would be gradually driven up within two years, entering a period of frenzied profit-making.

By then, Ernst will also be able to obtain a considerable amount of spare money from it.

Because the past collaborations had been very pleasant and both sides had benefited considerably, Ernst was not opposed to contacting Green and even had some expectations for it.

"What's he doing here?"

Massim looked at Ernst and said with a hint of mockery, "What else can he do? Besides playing around with women, this kid's only job is money laundering."

While Massim's statement was somewhat blunt and even derogatory, it also reflected the status of these people in the eyes of important figures in America, making them no different from junket operators.

Ernst was somewhat puzzled. Art speculation had gradually taken off, which was a major way to launder money. The amount of money that could be laundered each year was considerable. Logically speaking, their income should be very stable, and they shouldn't lack channels in the short term.

Massim noticed the puzzled look on Ernst's face and the slight furrow in his brow. He took a puff of his cigar and explained, "You might not know, but the EU recently established a special task force to investigate money laundering through shell companies, so..."

'

At this point, Massim paused deliberately, then shrugged and didn't continue.

Ernst, however, looked at Massim with a dismissive, mocking gaze. "Are you kidding me? Do you think I can launder such a large volume for them, replacing an empty shell company?"

There are countless ways to launder money, including movies, gambling, real estate, gold, physical stores, and so on. But if we're talking about the most ruthless, the most frequent, and the most favored method for illicit money laundering, then it has to be shell companies.

First, using shell companies to launder money minimizes the financial losses for criminals.

Throughout the money laundering process, funds mainly circulate between different shell companies, rarely involving actual goods transactions or service provision.

Secondly, shell companies can launder money on a very large scale, meeting the needs of large sums of money laundering. Moreover, the operating procedures are relatively fixed, making it easy to process funds on a large scale and in batches.

The most important factor is security. Since the registration information of shell companies is often untrue and incomplete, and the actual controllers and business addresses of the companies are difficult to trace, it greatly increases the difficulty for regulatory agencies to investigate and supervise them, thus providing a relatively safe protective barrier for money laundering activities.

In simple terms, if a criminal wants to launder $100 million in illicit funds, he will first register a shell company A in a relatively relaxed and confidential region such as the Cayman Islands. Then, he will transfer the $100 million in illicit funds into the shell company A's account and deposit the funds into a bank in the company's name to obtain a large deposit certificate.

The criminals would then register another shell company, B, and use the $100 million certificate of deposit from shell company A as collateral to apply for a $100 million loan from a bank in Europe.

Once the bank approves the loan and deposits the funds into the shell company B's account, the criminals quickly transfer the loan funds to a shell company C registered in Panama.

Finally, shell company C conducts a fictitious business transaction with shell company D, which is registered in Luxembourg by the criminals, and ultimately transfers the funds to shell company D's account.

Through this series of operations, the original $100 million in illicit funds were disguised as legitimate income obtained by shell company D through normal business transactions, thereby achieving the purpose of money laundering.

In theory, criminals could register numerous shell companies and transfer funds between them hundreds or thousands of times if they so desired.

However, in practice, there is not much need to do so.

Once funds are transferred more than three times between shell companies in different countries, it becomes extremely difficult for regulators to trace the source of the funds.

They first need to start with shell company D in Luxembourg, which requires compliance with local Luxembourg banking laws and regulations.

Even if they successfully overcome Luxembourg's regulatory hurdles and obtain information about the financial transactions between shell companies D and C, they still need to travel to Panama to investigate shell company C in accordance with Panamanian banking regulations.

Each transfer of funds involves a new country or region's regulatory system, creating a chain of interconnected processes that are very difficult to trace.

The problem is they won't let you check, because that's what they make money from.

With such a large volume of money laundering transactions globally, roughly half of them are done using shell companies.

Now that the EU is cracking down, this kind of business will definitely have to be reduced as much as possible. With such a huge amount of money involved, asking me to handle it for you is just nonsense.

Massim knew this was a bit much to ask, so he explained, "It's not about replacing a shell company; it's just that you urgently need to help launder some money."

Ernst wanted to kick him, and he even replaced an empty shell company. I could replace him too.

"Green's uncle needs four billion dollars urgently and requires the funds to be in the account within a month."

The combination of a four billion dollar budget and a tight one-month deadline made Ernst pick up his coffee, lean back on the sofa, and adopt an attitude that indicated he didn't want to listen anymore.

Seeing Ernst's reaction, Massim quickly added, "The other side can offer twenty points."

Ernst still didn't react noticeably, continuing to drink his coffee as if he hadn't heard Massim's words at all.

Seeing Ernst's indifferent attitude, Massim felt a sense of defeat. "Fine, most of this money will be converted into orders from Raytheon."

Ernst finally reacted, putting down his coffee cup. No wonder Massim was so enthusiastic. Isn't Thor a property of the Boston Consortium? So all this money is going to end up being fed to you guys, right?

Now that you're having money problems, you've remembered me.

"Is his uncle planning an uprising in Mexico?"

Four billion US dollars worth of weapons and equipment—how could a big leaf king use so much equipment?

Moreover, it's a continuation of the $4 billion arms purchase, not a total purchase of $4 billion worth of weapons. This procurement could be even larger than that $4 billion.

"It's not an uprising, it's a whitewashing. Which of those big shots in Mexico didn't rise to power this way? By becoming their vassals, they achieved a glamorous transformation."

This is a public portrayal of how some of Mexico's upper-class figures have amassed their fortunes: by supporting a powerful political force or power core, they can launder their status and wealth through official positions once that force comes to power.

Green's uncle clearly wanted to use this method to convert his illicit funds into legitimate wealth, thereby gaining a foothold in Mexico's upper class.

"Thirty points." Ernst didn't care whether the other party followed him or not; he only needed to know how urgently the other party needed the money.

"Do you think they'll agree? Twenty points already exceeds the traditional handling fee." Massim felt that Ernst's asking price was no different from a refusal.

Ernst, however, had his own reasons. He looked at him seriously and said, "There are only two years left until the election. If an elephant comes to power, you know what we're going to face. I'm taking a huge risk."

There has always been an unwritten rule on Wall Street.

The donkey came on stage, and it was as dark as night.

When the elephants appeared, the night was as bright as day.

This describes how, when the donkey was in that position, Wall Street could revel without restraint, with someone chasing after you to clean up your mess.

Once the elephants appear, then it's time to settle down and do legitimate business.

Every time a major player like a giant appears, Wall Street is the target of intense scrutiny.

Seeing that Ernst didn't seem to be just giving a perfunctory refusal, but rather genuinely wanted to accept the deal, Massim said, "I will pass on your message."

After finishing their business, the two started talking about romance and nature.

"By the way, there's a retail industry event in a few days, would you like to go?"

"Forget it," Ernst shook his head and refused, thinking it would be another one of those open-air gatherings.

He's been very busy lately and hasn't had the leisure to relax.

"Never mind then. I was originally planning to introduce you to some connections; many big names in the retail industry will be there."

"Wait a minute." Ernst grasped the key point. "You mean a lot of retail industry bigwigs will be there, not one of those Wells Fargo events?"

Massim rolled his eyes. "That's a legitimate business, okay? Even the president of Walmart..."

Ernst had no interest in listening to the other person anymore. It was like a pillow being delivered to his sleepy head. He was just thinking about how to get in touch with these people when the opportunity came knocking on his door.

"Give me the invitations later."

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