The Son of Finance of the Great Age

  Chapter 629 The Last Redemption (2)

  After the financial conference, Dick Foud's good mood didn't last long, and a piece of news from the rating agency Moody's completely shattered this joy.

  Moody's wants to lower the credit rating of Raymond Brothers.

  Shortly after the press conference, the stock of Leimen Brothers rose by 17.4% in the morning trading time. This is an obvious positive signal that investors are gradually restoring confidence in Leimen Brothers. But like a thunderbolt in the clear sky, the new blow came immediately with lightning speed.

   When the market opened in the afternoon, Moody's Investors Service issued a statement, preparing to reassess the credit rating of Raymond Brothers. In this statement, Moody's declared that if Lehman Brothers cannot "reach a strategic cooperation agreement with a strong financial partner as soon as possible", Moody's will soon downgrade the credit rating of Leihman Brothers.

   This time the market was completely fried. In fact, this not only represents the opinion of Moody’s, but also the true thoughts of analysts and traders. Therefore, the stock of Leimen Brothers was quickly sold off. Not only did it give up all the 17.4% increase in the morning, it even fell by nearly 30% on this basis, and the whole day fell by 45.8%. $5 off.

  Dick Foud was furious, but there was nothing he could do. He has thought about everything he can think of now, and now he has no other choice but to frantically look for funds in the market. Now, in addition to calling everywhere to ask for help from the Federal Reserve and the Ministry of Finance, he also called the CEOs of major companies everywhere to ask them about their intentions for Raymond Brothers.

  Naturally, the results were minimal. Except for one Bank of America that revealed its intention, the others just said "no". In desperation, he could only ask Henry Paulson for help again.

  Dick Foud, who was in a state of desperation, didn't even think about why Moody chose to issue a statement that was not good for them at this time?

  However, many people in the market have doubts about this. However, because they are not interested parties, they don't know much about the inside story, and because Leihman Brothers held a financial conference on this day, it is reasonable for rating agencies to respond to this.

   In the end, such doubts will soon disappear.

  The truth of the matter is that after learning that Zhongshi did not close his position at all, Soros decisively activated his backup plan and asked Moody to release unfavorable news for Raymond Brothers.

   All of this, except for the person concerned, no one else knows.

  The Leimen Brothers were plotted against again.

  …

   "What an interesting person, interesting proposal!" Paulson smiled instead of anger, and said sullenly, "They think that they are qualified to negotiate terms with us after acquiring National Financial Corporation? This is simply a dream!"

   After three mouthfuls of instant coffee were poured into his mouth, Paulson could no longer hold back the anger in his heart, crumpled the paper cup into a ball, and threw it into the trash can. After doing all this, he seemed to feel a little breathless. After loosening the tie around his neck, he crossed his hips and let out a sigh of relief.

   "What do you think?"

  He looked at the other two people in the office with a complicated expression on his face.

  Bernanke and Geithner, the chairman and vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, plus Henry Paulson, gathered here the giants who control the US fiscal policy and monetary policy. And what brought them together was not the Raymond Brothers in the vortex of the storm, but the American International Group.

  As the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis gradually became apparent, more and more financial institutions fell into the quagmire of the crisis, including "F&F", Bear Stearns, and Raymond Brothers. Now the giants of the insurance industry are also in a dangerous situation.

   To save or not to save, this is a difficult problem.

But so far, Paulson and his companions have not had time to discuss the matter of AIG (American International Group). There is a hint of bargaining in it.

"I think no matter what, first get the people from the Bank of America to New York to conduct an audit and investigation of the assets of Lehman Brothers, so that they won't miss the opportunity." Geithner carefully organized his words and observed the situation for a while. Said slowly.

Unlike Bernanke, who stayed out of the matter, Geithner was deeply involved in the dispute between the Bank of America and the Treasury Department. Now he is not a human being inside and outside. On the one hand, it is the will of the government; He takes his favors seriously, so he can only survive between the cracks, and try his best not to offend both parties.

   "Ben, what do you think?"

   For Geithner's answer, Paulson is not very satisfied, but so far, he can only be forced to this extent. If we continue to make a fuss about this issue, Geithner may turn his back on him, which is undoubtedly detrimental to the overall situation. So he turned around and asked Ben Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve.

If Leimen Brothers can be settled, this is undoubtedly the best ending, but if there is really no one to take over, it is impossible for the U.S. government or the Treasury Department to spend real money to buy shares or host Leimen Brothers. Real Estate” and companies like AIG are very different.

"Let them participate in the transaction first!" Bernanke looked at Geithner without any expression, "Well, I will call Lewis first and persuade him to participate in the acquisition of Raymond Brothers, and we will deal with the rest later. There is always a solution to the problem.”

Then, in front of Paulson and Geithner, Bernanke called Ken Lewis, "Ken, this is Ben Bernanke. Well, you really should come and see Raymond. Brother's situation."

The chairman of the Federal Reserve called him personally, and Ken Lewis naturally couldn't treat him normally, and quickly replied: "Mr. Chairman, thank you for your concern. In fact, I am planning to send someone to New York to discuss the acquisition with the people from Raymond Brothers. It’s just that up to now, due to some reasons, our team of lawyers and auditors has not yet been formed, so today we did not appear at the Leimen Brothers press conference as scheduled, I am really sorry.”

  Ken Lewis only mentioned a "certain reason", but he didn't mean to explain it, because he knew very well that it was not the case. He believes that Ben Bernanke is also well aware of this.

"Relax the issue of capital adequacy ratio, we will help you find a way!" To Ken Lewis's embarrassment, Ben Bernanke didn't intend to hide it at all, and directly pointed out the key points of disagreement between the two parties, "If you If there is any other request, please bring it up together, if we can help you solve it, we will do it, like helping the Leimen Brothers, do you understand?"

  Ben Bernanke is an academic at heart, and even though he's been in the bureaucracy for so long, he's still an academic. Both the way of speaking and the style of doing things are quite different from the prevailing one in business. It's like talking about the capital adequacy ratio. Ken Lewis will cover it up and use others to make indirect remarks, while Bernanke blurts it out without hesitation.

   Of course, this is also related to the different status of the two parties.

But no matter what, Ken Lewis was silent for a rare moment after being distracted, and finally said gratefully: "Yes, sir, thank you very much for your help. We have no other requests, and you will see the United States tomorrow." The bank's team showed up in New York."

  After hanging up the phone, Bernanke looked at Paulson and Geithner, who had almost the same expressions, and was full of puzzlement. Originally, he thought that the people from Bank of America agreed to go to New York to start negotiations with Raymond Brothers, which should be good news. But what puzzled him was that Paulson and Geithner's brows were furrowed and their expressions were dignified. Obviously, they were not very optimistic about the contents of the phone call.

   "It seems that Bank of America has tied this condition to the acquisition of Lehman Brothers!" Paulson shook his head slightly, "Prepare for the bankruptcy of Leihman Brothers."

  Basically, if the U.S. banks are allowed to relax their capital adequacy ratio, then the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department will allow other banks to enjoy the same policy. In today's general environment, raising the capital adequacy ratio is precisely to prevent financial risks like Lehman Brothers. It is impossible for either Paulson or Bernanke to exchange the price of saving Raymond Brothers for an increase in the risk of the entire market.

"Do not!"

   At this moment, Geithner suddenly called out, "I know there is another buyer in the market, a buyer who is interested in Raymond Brothers!"

Basically, since the beginning of the year, Leimen Brothers has been in contact with financiers in the market, from the initial capital injection in exchange for shares, to the subsequent sale of all shares, and to the recent divestiture of "non-performing" assets and the sale of remaining assets, etc. The people of Leimen Brothers are actively saving themselves, making concessions step by step. But to their desperation, the number of buyers in the market has decreased one by one. Up to now, they have not found anyone who is willing to lend a helping hand. Now there is only one Bank of America that is interested.

  What they don't know is that this is an olive branch extended by the Bank of America under the persecution of the U.S. Treasury Department.

"real?"

  Paulsen's eyes suddenly burst into joy, and he asked again and again, "Who is it? Why don't I know? What's going on here?"

  Although they are mentally prepared to let Leimen Brothers go bankrupt, if they can really save the company, this will undoubtedly give the market a shot in the arm and will be of great help to the follow-up work. So while Paulson was deeply moved, he asked several questions in succession.

   "Barclays!"

Under the questioning gazes of Paulson and Bernanke, Geithner said slowly, "In the afternoon, one of their directors called Dimon called me and emphasized his interest in Raymond Brothers. According to his Narratively, he has been authorized by the board of directors to take charge of the acquisition of Raymond Brothers."

"About this Mr. Dimon, our counterparts in the UK told us that this director can basically sit on the same level as their CEO John Varley, and he is a person with a lot of weight. I believe they are coming with full sincerity. .”

"But the question is, why didn't they contact Dick Foud?" Bernanke was completely confused at this time, "But they want to contact you? You know, you are the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. President, there is no connection with Leimen Brothers at all."

  As soon as this remark came out, Paulson, who thought that what Geithner said was a little strange, immediately realized, yes, why did the British not find the chairman of Raymond Brothers, but Geithner?

"Yes, that's why I didn't report it!" Geithner replied calmly, "That's what I asked him at the time, and the other party claimed that they didn't want to make this too public. Dimon said they wanted to To give the outside world the impression that Barclays was invited to buy Lehman Brothers when the Fed approached them."

"I originally thought it was unnecessary caution from the British, but in their view, this disagreement is very important. Even Mr. Dimon put down his words and said that if the Fed is not willing to make this call, let it be all this None of that happened."

   "Damn hypocritical British!"

Paulson snorted coldly with disdain, "They definitely want to buy Leimen Brothers at an unimaginably low price, but they don't want to leave the market with the image of taking advantage of the fire, so they have to rely on us. God, promise these **** Brit."

   Thank you book friend Si Wuxie for voting for the monthly ticket! I hope that more book lovers will pay attention to this book, and I look forward to your votes. The more recommended monthly tickets, the better~Thank you~!

  (end of this chapter)