New York 1988

Chapter 189 (Subscription)

On September 9, when Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection, the entire United States and even the whole world were shocked.

Of course, the most empathetic is the peers.

Last year, the share price of Washington Mutual Bank was as high as $45, but in September, the price was $9. It was really cut in half and then cut to the ankle.

However, as the company's CEO said, Killinger said, they were attacked by Wall Street's vampires, and their stock price should be at least 8 knives or more.

Then, their bad debts are actually not many, and they can be independently borne.

However, just like the original time and space, Gao Sheng, Citigroup and others joined forces to eliminate competitors Bear Stearns and Lehman. As a peer, Chase has long been eyeing the existence of the most powerful savings among its peers.

So, from very early on, they began to make secret arrangements and suppress them in various ways.

It's just that, unlike the original time and space, everyone has secretly blended. You Bank of America swallowed Merrill Lynch, you Wells Fargo swallowed Midland, and I, Morgan, swallowed Washington Mutual Bank and Bear Stearns.

Here, everyone regards Han Sheng as an intruder from outside, and thinks that he is restless and ambitious, so no one colludes with him, or in other words, they are afraid that if they collude with him, they will expose their target.

In short, they are going to unite to reject Han Sheng and not bring him to play.

Can Han Sheng agree to this?

I am willing to "compete fairly" with you, but you are actually playing dirty with me, but he didn't move for a while, but hid in the grass like a snake, waiting to deal a fatal blow to his opponent.

First of all, Bank of America, like the original time and space, put forward an acquisition proposal to Merrill Lynch when Han Sheng just returned to New York from Montana in early August, willing to buy Merrill Lynch at a price of 8 billion knives.

Merrill Lynch is one of the four major investment banks on Wall Street. Even in this year, it is the top investment bank. Its funds manage more than 2 trillion dollars in funds, compared with the second-ranked Citigroup's 1.6 trillion and ranking The 1.2 trillion of the third American League is much more.

In addition, because the loss is relatively small and there are more high-quality assets, it is possible to have such a high valuation.

However, the shareholders of Merrill Lynch felt that the price was still low, so they kept wrangling. At the beginning of September, Bank of America raised the price to 9 billion knives, which was exactly the same as the price reached in the original time and space.

However, just when Bank of America thought it was a sure win, and even felt that Merrill Lynch's shareholders had agreed, it was September 9, the day Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection.

Wells Fargo and Merrill Lynch announced at the same time that they had reached an acquisition agreement with a purchase price of $500 billion.

As soon as the news came out, not to mention the uproar from the outside world, the Bank of America was simply furious. It was really furious. Then, on the same day, it filed a claim of 600 billion U.S. dollars for alleged violations of the exclusive agreement, 200 billion U.S. dollars in compensation and 400 million U.S. dollars in compensation. billions of dollars in punitive damages.

However, when Citigroup and Merrill Lynch were negotiating, they did not sign any liquidated damages clause, nor did they have any exclusive agreements, which would not cause infringement interference. Therefore, Han Sheng ignored them at all.

The biggest problem is that Han Sheng gave too much, 500 billion knives.

In the current situation, even Mo Gen, who is rich, is reluctant to part with so much money. up.

With so much money, no one can stop it. You can only blame the Bank of America for not having any money. You are too arrogant.

For Washington and Congress, especially for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as long as someone is willing to buy Merrill Lynch and not waste their own small savings, that is a good thing.

You know, the indymac bank they took over last month made them miserable. After taking over, it directly consumed more than 100 billion dollars of insurance funds of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Therefore, they are not willing to take over another unlucky guy after killing them. This is why they were eager to let Washington Mutual Bank get rid of it, and then let Morgan take advantage of the loophole.

However, that's for later.

Right now, Bank of America has nowhere to sue, and they have no money, so soon, three days later, the shareholders of the two companies approved the merger, and then, less than a week later, on September 3, the Federal Reserve approved Wells Fargo The acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

The plan gave 100 billion knives in cash, and the rest was Wells Fargo stock.

Well, Wells Fargo's stock is now $35 a share, and Merrill Lynch is $3.95 a share. Then, when it was acquired, it was a premium, nearly $7.5 a share.

After all, this is obviously a big deal.

Only Han Sheng knows that the stock price of Wells Fargo Bank is still flat because it did not fall into the subprime mortgage crisis. However, by April next year, it will still fall below $10. Therefore, it seems to be a premium, and it has taken advantage of it. Yes, but, in fact, he didn't lose.

……

Bank of Merrill Lynch has acquired it, but Han Sheng is not prepared to stop.

Next, there is Washington Mutual.

On September 9th, Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection, and Washington Mutual also felt a little numb, mainly because the stock price was hit too low, and they knew that someone was cheating it, so they also began to secretly look for potential buyers. Interesting. , just like the original time and space, they invited Gao Sheng to identify potential buyers.

They don't know that this guy is a well-known twenty-five boy.

Anyway, no matter what, Han Sheng is clear about the actions here.

Perhaps, Mo Gen is also the one who has cleared the door.

Days passed, and no one was ready to bid for Washington Mutual in the shadow of the bid.

Moreover, to make matters worse, the bank was also subjected to a large-scale run on the bank by means of electronic banking and wire transfer on the Internet. Some customers withdrew a huge deposit of 167 billion US dollars within ten days.

Even if Washington Mutual Bank has 1880 billion dollars in deposits, this accounts for almost one-tenth of it. Besides, the problem is that once this kind of news comes out, it will cause more people to run, and then the bank will not be able to stand it .

After all, banks can't just accept deposits and not lend.

Now, most of the loans cannot be recovered, so there is no way to provide enough funds for people to withdraw cash. Then, the only result of the bank in the end is the bankruptcy of being run on.

That's why Washington Mutual was a bit miserable, and soon, under pressure from investors, the board fired Killinger as CEO, then chairman of the mortgage brokers, and so on.

To put it bluntly, Killinger and others are resisters and the pillars of the stable bank. After they are gone, Washington Mutual Bank will be somewhat leaderless.

At this time, the Federal Reserve and the Ministry of Finance stepped up the pressure, sternly warning them to find a buyer quickly, otherwise, they threatened to let the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation take over, or directly let them go into bankruptcy liquidation.

And all of this is actually Morgan behind the scenes.

They are ready to quickly crush Washington Mutual Bank, and then take the opportunity to swallow this sweet big cake.

By the 21st, after Han Sheng took down Merrill Lynch, they were basically ready.

On September 9, just like the original time and space, when Washington Mutual Bank was continuously run on and obviously unable to pay, the FDIC finally held a secret auction of Washington Mutual Bank.

However, the difference is that in the original time and space, Morgan won the Washington Mutual Bank with assets of more than 19 billion dollars and deposits of 3070 billion dollars with only 1880 billion.

One can imagine the trickiness in it, but, Morgan is too powerful, and in the end this matter was left alone.

But this time, during the secret auction, Han Sheng stood up, and cut off the beard at a price of 25 billion dollars.

As soon as the result came out, Morgan was furious.

The old Mo Gen, who was almost ninety, stared at Han Sheng viciously, "Boy, you are too much!"

Han Sheng stared at him without showing any weakness, and his eyes were also fierce, "Old man, since you still treat me as a fart, then I don't need to respect you outdated bastards.

You think Morgan can really do whatever he wants, you think this world is still 100 years ago, and you think who the hell are you. "

With a final flick of my sleeve, "I'll wait for you, no matter if you use black or white, even today, I think I should let others see, what the hell, I'm no longer just a character to be bullied casually. "

He also said unabashedly to Gemanov and Raymond: "I will prepare everything for me. If anyone dares to touch me, I will directly destroy his whole family. I will blow up all the grass for him." Bury it up...!"

After finishing speaking, turn around and leave.

Old Morgan was so angry that he vomited blood right there.

However, he finally saw Han Sheng's fangs.

Thinking about it again, why he had arranged everything so properly, but after the hidden bid was issued, it was not Mo Gen's house, this is worth pondering.

It's not just a question of betrayal, it's a question of daring to betray. It's because the Morgan family's control over the current United States is no longer so powerful, even the Federal Reserve and the Ministry of Finance, which seem to be the most powerful.

"What the hell, fight with him!" Old Morgan's grandson, Charles was also furious, and he was ready to make a phone call to shake people.

"Are you crazy?" Before old Morgan could speak, Charles' father, Raul, scolded. Then, under the sign of old Morgan, he left first, otherwise, staying here is just a joke for others.

After getting out of the door and getting into the car, old Morgan heaved a sigh of relief before staring at Charles, "Are you sure that a lightning strike can kill Vincent?"

Charles is autistic.

Not only is he not an idiot, but he is also the third generation cultivated by old Morgan.

Shaking his head, "I don't know. When he came to Washington, he made all kinds of preparations. I just knew that there are at least a few hundred security personnel of Bald Eagle. Those with branching structures."

Old Morgan sighed, "The air force base in California is said to be ready, and, needless to say, the Lockheed Martin and other military enterprises under his control may also have prepared various fighter jets and the like." Yes, that guy is a little lunatic, if he doesn't move, he'll be fine, if he moves, he will really work hard."

Raul also nodded, "Although he looks very gentle on the surface, in fact, he killed a lot of people secretly. It can be said that those who offend him will end well, so he is not a big-hearted person! "

"If I knew it earlier, I shouldn't let him grow up so quickly," Charles said in hindsight.

"Oh," said old Morgan helplessly, "he looks fast, but in fact, every step is very steady, especially in the information industry, he really deserves his success. Possessed a huge amount of wealth.

Then, with the addition of the pharmaceutical group, he was not complacent about the money. Instead, he quickly distributed the money to various industries all over the United States... However, his Victory Martial Art Museum seems to be cultivating Just like talents, they just formed a huge social network.

Sufficient talents, coupled with huge wealth, gave him a solid, even unshakable foundation today. "

In the end, I shook my head helplessly, "I'm really old, and I still want to be like before, we old guys discuss it and exclude him, let him understand that this world is still up to us, who knows, heh, People are ready to turn the table."

Raul glanced at him, "Actually, William was right before, we were too aggressive,"

The relationship between William and Han Sheng has always been tight, but the family and the Morgan family are related by marriage, so this time it was very uncomfortable to be caught in the middle, so they simply hid.

People only reflect on themselves after being slapped in the face.

However, it seems a bit late.

Old Morgan also glanced at Raul, "Anyway, we need a reasonable explanation for today's auction!"

Even if the traitor is killed, it will be too shameful, and the Morgan family really can't afford to lose that person.

Of course, they will also have more actions that seem reasonable.

On the morning of Thursday, September 9th, today also happened to be the 25th anniversary of the founding of Washington Mutual Bank. Then, the regulatory agency officially notified Han Sheng that they were the winners, confirming the fact that they had bought Washington Mutual Bank at auction.

That same night, the Office of Thrift Oversight seized the Washington Mutual bank and placed it under FDIC receivership.

The Office of Thrift Oversight said in a statement that the massive run meant that Washington Mutual was no longer healthy. Then, Han Sheng also said that it agreed to assume the bank's guaranteed debt and liabilities to depositors, and also said that the transaction did not require any federal funds. Insurance funds of the deposit insurance company.

As soon as the announcement came out, the depositors were first relieved. It was very simple. Everyone knew that Han Sheng had money. Not only did he have Wells Fargo, a giant bank that survived the subprime mortgage crisis, but he also had too many high-quality assets. Cash alone exceeds $2000 billion.

However, things didn't end there.

The depositors are fine, but there are still many dissatisfied.

For example, Max Denther of hedge fund advisor and investment strategist AVA Investment Analytics has filed a formal complaint with the SEC.Said that it was suspected that there was insider trading.

The indictment also alleges that Washington Mutual was not bankrupt and that several Wall Street firms and hedge funds conspired to short the stock.

He also said he spoke to a MI Associates reporter who told him that a Washington Mutual executive contacted him hours before the seizure and told reporters that the deal was Happened for "political reasons".

Meanwhile, some shareholders are fighting what they see as an illegal seizure of Washington Mutual through sites such as WaMuCoup.com, alleging that OTS (Office of Thrift Oversight) acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner, and for political reasons or for Wells Fargo seized the bank for its benefit.

Wells Fargo bought a huge branch network at what they claimed was an unfairly low price.Shareholders assert that, as of the date of the acquisition, the bank had sufficient liquidity to meet all of its obligations and complied with the business plan negotiated with OTS 2 weeks earlier, and that the holding company's board and management were critical of the government's negotiations with Wells Fargo Completely clueless.

It also hinders the ability of banks to sell themselves and so on.

Meanwhile, the IRS is asking Washington Mutual for $125 billion in back taxes and more.

There is no doubt that there are people behind this.

As for Han Sheng, what to do is very simple.

It directly makes people start to run crazy on Morgan's Chase Bank, regardless of whether you did it or not, don't you have money, don't you want to be a demon.

In just one day, more than 100 billion dollars were run on. At the same time, on ABC, CBS and other TVs, as well as on the Internet such as Yahoo, there were frantic reports that Chase Bank was run on and might go bankrupt, causing more People panic and people run.

Then, for the national tax.

The so-called most powerful department in the United States, Han Sheng directly asked people to submit documents, claiming that they lost more than 200 billion knives last year, had no profit, and gave you fucking taxes.

It even pointed out that in the past few years and in the bankruptcy case, the IRS owed Washington Mutual more than $57 billion in tax refunds, and then took the IRS directly to court.

What the hell, the IRS in the United States is not just a pawn of the plutocrats, the private sector, the thugs of the Federal Reserve, and so on.

Whether you want to play horizontally or play tricks, Han Sheng is not afraid at all.

On the contrary, the Morgan family was in a hurry.

Two days later, Han Sheng made people run over more than 200 billion. This is two days, which is much more ruthless than Morgan's run on Washington Mutual Bank for more than 160 billion in half a month.

In addition, Han Sheng has the resources of the media network and crazy reports, which really formed a run.

In this situation, even the Morgan family couldn't stand it when it was still in such a precarious situation.

So, William, who was the middleman, called.

"Brother, you won, please stop first!"

"Tell them, when I see those messy things disappear, I will stop, don't tell me that some things are not done by me, then I don't care, what I want is the result, I believe, the Morgan family There is still some ability!"

William was overjoyed, and said with a wry smile: "Forget it, damn it, Falk, at this time, you can really do whatever you want with money!"

(End of this chapter)