章節 563: Chapter 563: Massive Deficit
(There was a moment of confusion; the name in the previous chapter was incorrect. The president of Henglong Bank is Zhuang Rongkun. The mistake has been corrected. Apologies for the oversight.)
After Lu Yue Song left, Zhuang Rongkun, who was in a bad mood, had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. He paced back and forth, then suddenly asked, "How much of the deficit in the gold futures is still unresolved?"
Zhao Quanhao's expression changed. The number that had kept him awake for the past few months flashed through his mind. He replied honestly, "There is still a shortfall of 178,000 ounces."
"We have sold a total of 354,000 ounces of gold futures contracts. We have already purchased 176,000 ounces. If we settle Lu Yue Song's 10,000-ounce contract, we will be left with only 166,000 ounces of contracts."
"178,000 ounces of deficit?"
This figure made Zhuang Rongkun's face look very grim. He knew the cause of the problem over the past two months. It was because he had diverted the funds used for purchasing gold futures contracts and hadn't bought the equivalent amount of London gold contracts in time.
Originally, since the money was in their bank, how they operated it was their own concern. Typically, such matters wouldn't cause problems. Similar situations had occurred before in many banks, and as long as they resolved the issue later, there was no trouble.
Moreover, Henglong Bank was controlled by the Zhuang family, holding 80% of the shares, so other shareholders couldn't interfere.
But who would have thought that the international situation would change suddenly, causing international gold prices to soar? Because they had loaned 500 million to Jiuding Real Estate Group, the bank's funds were tight, so they didn't have time to make up for the London gold futures contracts in time.
Later, when international gold prices soared, Zhuang Rongkun managed to scrape together 190 million HKD to make up for the London gold contracts, but only bought 115,000 ounces.
If that 190 million HKD had been used to buy London gold contracts initially, it would have been enough for 169,000 ounces.
But as international gold prices kept rising, Zhuang Rongkun couldn't come up with that much money to restock. Even if he could, he was psychologically averse to doing so and hoped for a price drop to buy back at a lower price.
After all, Henglong Bank already had more than 100,000 ounces of gold futures contracts, over half of the total amount sold. He didn't believe that more than half of the clients would demand delivery of their gold futures at the same time.
However, thinking of the large quantities of gold futures contracts appearing around the same time, Zhuang Rongkun was very uneasy. He had worried before, but as there had been no movement, he had slowly ignored it. Unexpectedly, someone suddenly came forward for delivery today.
He just hoped this was a one-off situation!
Feeling anxious, Zhuang Rongkun asked Zhao Quanhao, "What is the current international gold price? How much would it cost to cover the 178,000-ounce deficit?"
Zhao Quanhao answered with a slight tremor in his voice, "Yesterday, the London gold price was around 512 USD per ounce. To cover the shortfall would cost 91 million USD, which is about 420 million HKD."
"How much?"
"420 million?!"
Zhuang Rongkun was shocked and fell into silence, calculating the original receivables from the gold futures, his face turned extremely grim.
"So, does this mean we've already incurred a floating loss of 300 million in gold futures?"
Faced with Zhuang Rongkun's question, Zhao Quanhao was sweating profusely and dared not speak.
Although the root cause of the problem was Zhuang Rongkun's diversion of funds, as the president, Zhuang Rongkun was not to be contradicted by his subordinate. Even if Zhao Quanhao tried to argue, it would still be his fault.
Anyway, the bank wasn't his; he would just keep his head down and remain silent. Worst case, he'd just be reprimanded and endure it.
The more Zhuang Rongkun thought about it, the more he trembled. A 300 million loss! How would he fill this hole?
Moreover, if international gold prices continued to rise, the deficit would not be just 300 million but would keep increasing!
As the president of the bank, Zhuang Rongkun was well aware of Henglong Bank's situation. Even without the 300 million HKD, after paying Lu Yue Song's 23.35 million, the bank's liquid funds were only 120 million HKD, which was far from enough to cover a 300 million loss.
As for the 420 million HKD deficit in gold futures, it was even harder to cover!
If Henglong Bank had to settle all its gold futures contracts now, after selling the 176,000 ounces of contracts they held, they would still need to come up with 420 million HKD for the clients, which was absolutely impossible!
Such a huge bomb!
No!
This information absolutely cannot be leaked. Otherwise, clients holding gold futures would rush to settle their contracts, and Henglong Bank would be in trouble!
The most important thing now was time. He needed enough time to raise funds, improve risk resistance, and then deal with the accounts step by step to fill the hole and quietly resolve the crisis.
Zhuang Rongkun thought through various possibilities and came up with a plan.
But for this, he needed to keep one person quiet.
With that thought, Zhuang Rongkun cast a stern glance at Zhao Quanhao, making him feel nervous.
"Xiao Zhao, keep your mouth shut. This matter absolutely cannot be known by anyone else. Do you understand?"
Zhuang Rongkun's gaze was sharp, and his tone was severe.
Zhao Quanhao nodded vigorously, promising, "President, I guarantee I will keep it confidential!"
"Good!"
"You continue with your work. Report to me immediately if there's any situation!"
Zhuang Rongkun nodded slightly and instructed.
"Yes!"
Zhao Quanhao raised his head, responded loudly, and breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. He had passed this hurdle.
However, both Zhuang Rongkun and Zhao Quanhao were too optimistic or self-deceiving.
Not long after Lu Yue Song left, while Zhao Quanhao hadn't even finished his cup of tea in the office, another major client came to settle gold futures, this time with an even larger amount, reaching 12,000 ounces, worth more than 28 million HKD at the current price.
Zhao Quanhao was immediately alarmed. He stabilized the client and quickly reported to Zhuang Rongkun.
Upon receiving the news, Zhuang Rongkun was shaken. His mind quickly clouded with a storm, and his intuition told him that things were getting worse!
But he still held onto a glimmer of hope, trying to cover up the issue and buy time to raise funds. So, despite delaying the time, he eventually agreed to settle the major client's gold futures request.
On the other hand, he immediately instructed Zhao Quanhao to arrange for the sale of the 176,000 ounces of London gold futures contracts, currently worth 410 million HKD, to find buyers.
Raise 410 million HKD first. Being able to cover half of the gold futures contracts would definitely alleviate the concerns of the gold clients. They would then handle the rest gradually.
Of course, there was also a possibility Zhuang Rongkun didn't dare to think about and didn't want to think about, only secretly praying.
Unfortunately, the nightmare was about to come. Over the next two days, Zhuang Rongkun experienced the roller-coaster thrill of a crisis.
Clients came one after another to settle gold futures, quickly draining Henglong Bank's 120 million HKD in cash.
In his anxious state, the 176,000 ounces of London gold futures contracts were absorbed, and Henglong Bank obtained over 400 million HKD in cash, allowing him to finally catch his breath.
But faced with the continuous influx of major clients demanding delivery of large gold futures contracts, Zhuang Rongkun could only endure the immense pressure while smiling and persuading, trying to dissuade the clients from settling.
But every attempt failed, and he had no choice but to grit his teeth and pay.
Liu Tianci had acted, and naturally, Henglong Bank wasn't the only target. Nearby Jiahua Bank also faced a similar situation.
One move triggered a crisis, and two well-known banks in Hong Kong fell into a predicament.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票