The Son of Finance of the Great Age

  Chapter 642 Kaminarimon Bankruptcy (5)

   "Asia has opened, and we don't have much time left, gentlemen."

  In the meeting room at the highest level of the Leimen Brothers headquarters, all the directors sat in their seats in suits, with stern faces waiting for the final "judgment". As the chairman of the board, Dick Foud's face was ashen, and his speech seemed weak.

  In the past two days, the Federal Reserve and the Ministry of Finance gathered the most powerful CEOs on Wall Street to discuss the matter of Lehman Brothers, but they excluded the management of Lehman Brothers, which made Dick Fudd very angry. But no matter how emotional they are, they have nothing to do. They can only find out the latest developments of the meeting through Barclays Bank and other familiar relationships.

When the consortium finally reached a rescue agreement, they once celebrated with each other, but soon when the news came that the acquisition plan of Barclays Bank was rejected by the British Financial Services Authority, the entire Raymond Brothers fell into a deathly silence. Negotiations also came to an abrupt end. Now, these well-dressed bigwigs gathered together, waiting for the final answer from the Fed.

   So far, Leimen Brothers' financial situation can still last for a period of time, but only for a period of time. If there is no injection of foreign funds, it will sooner or later be exhausted. But there is a glimmer of hope in the hearts of everyone present, that is, the Fed can give them a hand at the last moment, just like they did with the "two rooms".

  Because once the bankruptcy is declared, the stock market value of the people present will be wiped out in an instant. These are all calculated in tens of millions or even billions of dollars. No one will give up so much wealth easily.

   It's just that they don't know it well. In the eyes of Paulson and others, their behavior has become a manifestation of outright greed. Because their president, McDart, knew the process of the meeting best, so in Paulson's mind, if the Raymond Brothers were sensible, they would have declared bankruptcy by now.

It’s just that Paulson didn’t expect that McDart had lost power in the company’s internal strife. Dick Foud pushed all the responsibility for the exclusion of Raymond Brothers on the president, so that what he said now was that the board of directors I don't believe it at all.

  Wait, wait, Raymond Brothers haven't declared bankruptcy yet. Paulson had to order SEC Chairman Cox to call the other party and order the other party to enter bankruptcy proceedings immediately, because the relevant press releases had been drafted by the Federal Reserve and the Ministry of Finance, and even Merrill Lynch and the U.S. Bank negotiations are coming to an end.

   "Ring ring ring..."

  The phone call Kaminarimon's Board of Directors had been looking forward to finally came.

  The call was received on the conference call in the conference room, and the speaker was turned on. Everyone except Dick Foud listened intently, waiting for the final verdict of the Federal Reserve and the Ministry of Finance on Raymond Brothers.

"Hello, Chris, I'm Dick Foud." Dick Foud greeted first, and then introduced the situation here, "The board of directors is in a meeting, every director is here, and the company's consultants and lawyers are also here. Now, we are waiting for an official answer."

"The official answer? Didn't the official answer tell you a long time ago?" Chris Cox didn't answer the question, feeling a little surprised, but he immediately reacted and said lightly, "Gentlemen, since you still have questions , then on behalf of the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Reserve, I will reiterate that the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers will help stabilize the market and be beneficial to the financial system of the entire country. Including the SEC, the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Reserve, they all agree that Leihman Brothers Should file for bankruptcy protection."

   "Why would letting Raymond Brothers go out of business help stabilize markets?"

As soon as Cox finished speaking, a director of Leimen immediately jumped out and asked, "I really can't see where the market can be stabilized? On the contrary, I think that if Leimen Brothers declares bankruptcy, the entire market will fluctuate violently. "

"The market is already in the midst of violent shocks!" Cox denied this doubt without hesitation, "The government must take everything into consideration, and Leimen's bankruptcy is one of them. I believe you should also know that we are in We have tried our best in the process of rescuing you. When the rescue fails, let Lehman Brothers enter bankruptcy protection, which can stabilize the market to the greatest extent in the shortest possible time. This is the consensus of Wall Street.”

  A vague answer that doesn't explain the question at all. But Cox revealed an important message, that is, under the current circumstances, Wall Street institutions hope that Lehman Brothers can go through bankruptcy protection.

   This means they lose most of their counterparties.

  The directors talked a lot, and then asked a few more questions, but all the answers they got were specious. Although they really want to question Cox, what do the Fed and the Treasury Department think, why should Raymond Brothers be sacrificed? But where is Cox entangled in these issues, all he needs to do is to formally inform Raymond Brothers, you are finished!

  As for why, don't ask! It's a waste of time to ask!

"Can I understand that this call is that the government is instructing us to go bankrupt?" Dick Foud, who was silent for a while, finally spoke, and this sentence directly hit Cox's heart, "If this is the case, we Do it immediately."

As a standard politician, how could Cox give the other party a hand in this kind of place? You must know that in the two outcomes of Lehman Brothers’ board of directors deciding to go bankrupt or the U.S. government asking Lehman Brothers to go bankrupt, although both are bankrupt, But the impact on the outside world is quite different. Naturally, it is impossible for him to let the government take the blame.

"Whether to go bankrupt or not will be decided by the board of directors of Lehman Brothers, and the government cannot help you make such a decision!" Cox flatly denied, his tone full of dissatisfaction and indifference, "However, the government and the Federal Reserve have expressed their position to you, and the specific decision It will be up to you to decide."

   "So, your call is not to force us to go bankrupt?"

  Dick Foud is still relentless. As the largest individual shareholder, he will naturally not easily compromise on this matter, because the relationship of interests makes him hot-headed, and he even uses a threatening tone.

   "I've said all I have to say, so be it!"

   As the chairman of the SEC, how can Cox endure this threat? What's more, he was originally the role of the mouthpiece, even if the other party had doubts, he was asking the wrong person. At this moment, the displeasure in his heart had piled up to the peak, and he didn't have the heart to chatter with these greedy people anymore, so he hung up the phone directly.

   "Beep beep..."

  Hearing the voice on the phone, the directors of Leihman Brothers looked at each other in blank dismay, speechless. And at the moment the phone was hung up, Dick Foud also came to his senses completely. He was dumbfounded, and his head drooped deeply.

   It seems that bankruptcy is inevitable?

  Everyone knows that the government has unparalleled influence on this matter. God knows what will happen if they don't do what the government says. Not to mention anything else, just talk about the funds that the Federal Reserve lent to Leimen Brothers. As long as the Fed withdraws funds, Leimen Brothers will immediately fall into a paralyzed situation.

   It seems that the only way left is to vote on whether to decide whether to go bankrupt, and the government's warnings cannot be ignored.

"We're screwed!"

It took a long time for Dick Foud to wake up from his depression. When he looked up at the directors who were obviously downcast, his eye sockets were already red, "Gentlemen, thank you for working with me for many years. Now, please enter the voting session, Let's decide if Raymond Brothers needs to file for bankruptcy."

   After saying this, the teardrops in his eye sockets could no longer be kept, and dripped down his face.

  This company embodies his career, his youth, everything about him. From being a newcomer to becoming the ultimate chairman, from being an independent investment bank to being acquired and then being separated, Dick Foud, together with many people present, has worked hard for this company for decades, and today, this Everything is coming to an end.

   Just a few hours ago, the Leimen brothers had the last chance to redeem themselves, but unfortunately, the British government denied this opportunity, so the Leimen brothers came to the final desperate situation.

  Although the directors present had similar psychological preparations, some people still couldn't accept it when it came to this moment. But of course they don't cry like a woman, but many people shed tears secretly.

   Agree to bankruptcy!

   The result of the vote was not surprising. After everyone made a speech, the meeting entered the voting session, and everyone voted for bankruptcy. It was already approaching early morning, and the rest of the matter would be left to the bankruptcy lawyer to send the application for bankruptcy protection to the court overnight. In the early morning of tomorrow, the whole world would know the news that Raymond Brothers had declared bankruptcy.

At almost the same time, the negotiations between Merrill Lynch and Bank of America also came to an end. Bank of America will acquire 100% of Merrill Lynch's equity in the form of a stock exchange. The price of the security is $29.

  On Monday, September 15, 2008, the news of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers shocked the whole world. At the same time, it was reported that Merrill Lynch was acquired by Bank of America. Wall Street's investment banks instantly reduced the number of independent two.

  Compared with the acquisition of Merrill Lynch, the news of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers hit the global market like a nuclear bomb, because this is the first large financial institution to go bankrupt, breaking the rumors that have been circulating in the market before.

  Affected by the news of Leimen’s bankruptcy that day, financial stocks in the global market generally fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Index fell 504 points, or 4.42%. The Nasdaq fell 81 points, or 3.6%. The S&P 500 index fell 59 points, or 4.71%, the largest one-day drop since the "9.11" terrorist attacks. The FTSE fell 212 points, or 3.92%.

  The subprime mortgage crisis was well known to ordinary people on this day, and the harm it produced reached a new height on this day. All this has to be attributed to the previous work of the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury, including becoming a stabilization fund and issuing statements to stabilize the market.

But even so, the adverse effects of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers inevitably affected the entire world economy: oil prices fell in response, because investors had long-term and strong worries about the prospects of the US economy; The price of other bulk commodities also fell; CDO and CDS began to enter the public eye, and there were loud voices about the re-evaluation of the value of these derivatives, and this re-evaluation would lead to the re-evaluation of the stock value in the market, which directly Affecting financing costs, followed by a re-estimation of profitability, because the stock market will also face a new round of reshuffle.

  On this day, the President of the United States had to speak out because of Lehman Brothers and issued a statement on its bankruptcy, claiming that it would have a severe impact on investors, the U.S. economy and employees in the short term, but it would help the long-term adjustment of the U.S. market. But his words did not help investors' confidence in the slightest, and the panic in the entire market reached a new height.

  Deutsche Bank plummeted 8.12%, Barclays plummeted 14.7%, Royal Bank of Scotland plummeted 11.34%, and UBS plummeted 17.92%. These commercial banks have become victims of the bankruptcy of Leimen, and the market is speculating, who will be next?

   So far, only two of the five major Wall Street investment banks are independent, Goodman & Co. and Stanley & Co. Will they be the next one?

PS: This July has passed so quickly. Looking back on the situation of this book this month is really miserable... There will always be some annoying things in life that affect the state of writing a book. The effect of this month is not so good. It may be the author's own state It's not good enough, maybe everyone's enthusiasm is not high enough because the author's enthusiasm is not high enough, the author should adjust his state, and continue to work hard next month! Here I would like to thank Romantic Snail, linhuang_200, Lightfish, 9316 National Day, Huan Ge, Prodigal Son Xuan Shao and other book friends who voted monthly! Thanks to book friend Xiao Qi for another reward for the miracle of civilization! Everyone’s support in the past few days at the end of the month is very strong, thank you very much ~ I hope the results of this book will improve next month!

  (end of this chapter)