Capítulo 292: Chapter 292: Target Guang’an Bank
"Good morning, Boss!"
As soon as Xia Yu arrived, Wang Qi immediately stood up and greeted him respectfully.
Xia Yu nodded, sat down, and got straight to the point: "Which bank did you find?"
"Boss, take a look. It's this one, Guang'an Bank. Here are the detailed materials for Guang'an Bank."
Wang Qi handed the investigation report to Xia Yu.
After flipping through the report and considering it for a moment, Xia Yu found that it indeed met his requirements.
In Hong Kong, there are hundreds of financial institutions, with over a hundred of them being banks. Among these, the vast majority are small banks, accounting for about 75% of the total. Medium-sized banks make up about 20%, and large banks constitute around 5%.
Guang'an Bank is a small bank, mainly engaged in commercial banking and asset management. It does not hold licenses for securities issuance, insurance, or other business lines. However, Guang'an Bank does have an affiliated financial audit company.
Guang'an Bank was established in 1938 by former municipal councilor and chairman Liang Jiyi. After Liang Jiyi's death in 1972, the bank was taken over by Dr. Liang Dingbang.
According to historical development, Guang'an Bank was to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1996 and was acquired by the Singapore Development Bank in 1998. It was then delisted and renamed DBS Guang'an Bank, and by 2003, it had been merged into DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited.
Currently, Guang'an Bank has a capital of around 200 million HKD, but its liabilities are 190 million HKD, resulting in a high debt ratio. The bank operates five branches located in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories, Macau, and Singapore. However, the Singapore branch was only established the year before and is still in its initial stages.
Despite Guang'an Bank's many disadvantages and poor operational status, Xia Yu was not concerned and was actually more satisfied because this would make the acquisition cost lower!
Xia Yu's primary goal in acquiring a bank was to establish a financial center for funds circulation.
To be clear, Xia Yu just needed a bank license!
However, applying for a bank license would take time, and Xia Yu did not want to wait.
Even if he obtained a license, he would still need to build a bank from scratch, which would also take time.
But Xia Yu was currently lacking time. He had no time to build a bank from the ground up. His plans were nearing execution, and he was currently stuck on the banking issue.
Thus, acquiring a bank in the cheapest way possible became Xia Yu's top choice.
As for how poor the bank was before the acquisition, Xia Yu did not care. As long as it was not insolvent, he was not worried! Guang'an Bank's 200 million capital and 190 million liabilities, with a debt ratio of 95%, had already exceeded the normal debt ratio line of 92% for banks, leaving only 10 million HKD in net assets.
However, Xia Yu was not concerned at all. With his own funds exceeding 1 billion HKD, injecting this capital would directly reduce Guang'an Bank's debt ratio to just a few percent.
Moreover, don't forget that Xia Yu had several large companies. If the funds were also deposited in Guang'an Bank, the bank could definitely leap to become a medium-sized bank, and not the bottom tier!
As for Guang'an Bank's incomplete licenses, only having commercial banking and asset management licenses, Xia Yu was not worried either.
The licenses missing from Guang'an Bank were mostly held by Jiuding Securities Company. As long as the acquisition was completed, the two could complement each other. Extra licenses would be redundant and would only increase costs for Xia Yu.
Speaking of which, there is a difference between types of banks.
In the world, aside from special institutions like the World Bank, central banks, and policy banks, banks are mainly divided into commercial banks and investment banks.
The role of a commercial bank is to act as a credit intermediary through deposits, loans, remittances, and savings. Its main business scope includes accepting public deposits, issuing loans, and handling bill discounting.
Ordinary commercial banks do not have the right to issue currency, although there are exceptions in some places. For example, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank have the right to issue Hong Kong dollars.
In contrast to commercial banks, there are investment banks.
Investment banks are non-banking financial institutions engaged in securities issuance, underwriting, trading, corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, investment analysis, venture capital, project financing, etc. They are the main financial intermediaries in the capital market.
Investment banks are known as such in the U.S. and continental Europe. In the UK, they are referred to as merchant banks, and in Japan and China, they are considered securities firms.
In fact, Jiuding Securities Company, which Xia Yu owns, is an investment bank!
Investment banks primarily come in three forms:
1. Independent professional investment banks, which are numerous and spread around the world. They specialize in various business directions, such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in the U.S.
2. Investment banks owned by commercial banks, where commercial banks acquire other investment banks, hold shares, or establish subsidiaries for investment banking. This form is typical in the UK and Germany, such as HSBC and UBS.
3. Universal banks that directly operate investment banking businesses. This form is mainly seen in Europe, where banks simultaneously engage in both investment and commercial banking. This type is now rare and only started to emerge widely after the U.S. Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999.
Since the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act in the U.S. mandated the separation of commercial and investment banking to prevent commercial banks from jeopardizing depositors' interests, this system was widely adopted and imitated by many active and developed financial markets.
However, starting from the 1970s, due to the development of mathematics, finance, and statistics, as well as technological and social changes, commercial banking faced increasing difficulties, leading many banks to struggle and even collapse.
The 1997 global financial crisis accelerated the breakdown of this system.
In 2000, the merger of Chase Manhattan Bank from the Rockefeller financial group with J.P. Morgan & Co. led to the creation of the all-encompassing universal bank model, which continued with further mergers and acquisitions, creating a wave of universal banks in Europe and the U.S.
The emergence of universal banks marked the beginning of a wave of bank mergers in Europe, the U.S., and Japan, aimed at better handling competition with the rise of all-encompassing banks.
However, even in the unique case of Hong Kong, universal banks are not allowed.
But Xia Yu did not care. Even if he acquired a commercial bank, the integration with Jiuding Securities Company was not a problem for him.
If necessary, he could emulate the second model, like HSBC, where the commercial bank holds a portion of Jiuding Securities Company's shares and delegates the business to Jiuding Securities. However, this wasn't necessary because, upon acquiring the commercial bank, it would be used as a financial center for his enterprises. The shares would not be transferred, maintaining a straightforward relationship without additional complications.
Given this analysis, Guang'an Bank was indeed a very suitable target for acquisition.
The question was how difficult the acquisition would be?
With this in mind, Xia Yu asked, "Wang Qi, are you confident that the Liang family will agree to sell Guang'an Bank?"
Wang Qi nodded firmly, "Yes, I am confident!"
"Boss, the Liang family is indeed looking to divest. I've verified this information. Here's the reason I'd like to report to you."
"After the death of the old head of the Liang family in 1972, the current head of Guang'an Bank is Liang Dingbang. However, Liang Dingbang's ambition is to enter politics. He has already obtained a private practice lawyer qualification and is preparing to join the Hong Kong government."
"Furthermore, the Liang family's members are dwindling, and Liang Dingbang's only younger brother has no financial talent. This situation has led Guang'an Bank to its current state. Under the previous head, the bank's debt ratio was around 90%, not as high as the current 95%!"
"So, if we intend to acquire Guang'an Bank, the Liang family would likely be willing to let go."
After giving this report, Wang Qi hesitated for a moment but then continued, "Of course, since Liang Dingbang intends to enter politics, with your strength, Boss, you could support him behind the scenes. If they resist, proposing this condition should resolve the issue."
Wang Qi said this somewhat nervously, not daring to meet Xia Yu's deep gaze.
Although his intentions were good, there was still a sense of overstepping, arranging a path for the boss, which was not entirely appropriate.
After Wang Qi finished speaking, Xia Yu looked at him expressionlessly, unsure of his thoughts.
After a long silence, when Wang Qi was about to crack under the pressure, Xia Yu finally said: "As a reminder, don't let this happen again!"
"Yes, yes!"
Wang Qi, greatly relieved, nodded rapidly like a chick pecking at grains.
In fact, Xia Yu was not angry but was simply reminding Wang Qi.
However, Wang Qi's mind was indeed sharp, and his perspective and foresight had grown. Supporting Liang Dingbang could indeed benefit Xia Yu significantly, making him one of Xia Yu's political representatives and greatly enhancing his influence.
Moreover, this could be used as a condition to persuade the Liang family to let go of Guang'an Bank.
Xia Yu recalled that Liang Dingbang was a prominent figure in the future, having served as the chairman of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, chief advisor to the China Securities
Regulatory Commission, assistant director of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, acting High Court judge, and non-executive director of several major banks and insurance companies.
Thus, Liang Dingbang was a rising star!
If Xia Yu could bring him under his wing and make him his political representative with Xia Yu's support, he could very well rise to the highest position, or at least the top three.
With Liang Dingbang's support in the political sphere, Xia Yu's Jiuding enterprises would be secure!
Of course, this all depends on successfully bringing Liang Dingbang on board.
"Looks like when acquiring Guang'an Bank, it would be a good idea to arrange a meeting with him!"
Xia Yu thought to himself, keeping this in mind.
"Wang Qi, you handle the acquisition of Guang'an Bank. When the time comes, you can use the method you mentioned."
Xia Yu said calmly.
Wang Qi was pleased and immediately nodded, "Understood!"
"Keep it confidential!"
Xia Yu reminded.
"Got it!"
Wang Qi assured solemnly.
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder