Vicious dogs in Hong Kong, entrepreneurs practicing evil cultivation

Chapter 114 The Rebellious Dog Throws Another Chapter

Government Offices, Financial Secretary.

After more than half a month of wrangling, the four exchanges still could not merge. There were too many issues and interests involved, and the Hong Kong government had to suspend the merger process.

At present, the most important thing is still to stabilize the stock market and prevent turmoil. Certified public accountant Chen Pufen should have been entrusted with important responsibilities, but he has been embroiled in lawsuits by Chen Guanjiang.

Another practicing accountant, Li Fuzhao, wanted to help draft the Securities Ordinance, but was firmly rejected by the Hong Kong government and the Financial Secretary, who were afraid that he might accidentally invite trouble into the house.

Other accountants didn't have the ability, so the problem was delayed.

Legal provisions can be postponed;

The merger of the four cities can be postponed.

However, stabilizing the economy and ending the chaos in the stock market could not be delayed, so Xia Dingji summoned the four of them again for a meeting.

"This stock market crash was caused by pushing a large number of companies to go public, with the four stock exchanges delisting companies that did not meet listing requirements in order to reduce the supply of stocks..."

Xia Dingji was speaking to the four of them, but his eyes were fixed on Chen Guanjiang and Hu Hanhui. Only the Gold and Silver Society and the Kowloon Society were the most unruly.

Hu Hanhui immediately stated: "The Gold and Silver Association will exclude all listed companies in Taiwan and Singapore from trading in the Hong Kong stock market using Japanese Yen and Singapore Dollar."

Chen Guanjiang looked at the old fox and cursed inwardly. Singapore had already begun preparations this year to establish a stock exchange, retain its status as a world transshipment port, and develop the financial services industry.

It's fair to say that even if the Gold and Silver Association doesn't delist Singaporean listed companies, these companies will simply return to their home countries for listing. It's as if they said nothing at all.

As for the listed companies in the island nation, they were just taking advantage of the Hong Kong stock market boom to make money. Once they've made all the money, it's goodbye without even a chance to wave goodbye.

however!

Faced with Xia Dingji's undisguised hints, Chen Guanjiang remained indifferent, as if he wasn't talking about the Kowloon Society.

Xia Dingji said, "Chen Pufen is involved in serious economic crimes. All embezzled funds from the antenna stock company will be recovered. He is tentatively sentenced to five years in prison..."

Chan Kwun-kong said, "The Kowloon Club has now cleared out 281 brokerage firms and halted the listing process for 433 companies that were in the process of preparing for listing..."

Xia Dingji said, "Ten days later, the court will hold a hearing for Chen Pufen, and a month later, the case will be formally tried..."

Chan Kwun-kong said, "The Kowloon Club will draft a list of listed companies to be delisted in ten days, and will officially initiate the delisting process a month later..."

“…………”

You say your piece, I say mine, we don't talk about anything but each other, but we both understand what the other is trying to say. Chen Pufen's handling of the situation reflects the level of cooperation from the Kowloon Society.

However, this was a deal that Chen Guanjiang had to accept, yet absolutely could not accept.

The Kowloon Club's trading volume was only one-tenth of the other three clubs, so it was jokingly called the "0.1 Club" by Hong Kong stock market investors. It was not until a batch of messy companies went public that the trading volume looked a little better.

Currently, of the 1218 companies listed on the Kowloon Stock Exchange, fewer than 150 are truly qualified for listing. According to the proposed conditions, it is likely that 90% of these companies will face delisting.

There are fewer than 150 listed companies left, and 70% of them have already been listed on the other three stock exchanges.

If they truly cooperate with Xia Dingji, and over a thousand delisted companies return to a "0.1" share price during the stock market crash, then the Kowloon Club will be finished.

However, if they do not cooperate with Xia Dingji, after recovering all the embezzled funds from Chen Pufen and stripping him of his reputation, they will still be reinstated, let alone sentenced to prison.

Having been coerced once by Chen Guanjiang through the Kowloon Society, Xia Dingji used Chen Pufen's methods to coerce Chen Guanjiang in return, and both sides had no choice but to accept this kind of blackmail.

Xia Dingji feared that Chen Guanjiang would disregard the consequences and, before the Securities Ordinance was legislated, push for a large number of companies to go public, thus disrupting the economy.

Chen Guanjiang was also afraid that Xia Dingji would unleash his dogs. Once Chen Pufen was reinstated, he would definitely chase after him relentlessly. The two sides reached a strange balance.

Li Fuzhao also saw Chen Guanjiang's predicament. They were in the same boat, and he couldn't help but worry about him.

The Financial Secretary's lack of insistence on the merger of the four organizations as soon as possible may well be a prelude to dismantling the Kowloon Club before the merger, which would weaken the Far East Club in the process.

After giving Li Fuzhao a reassuring look, Chen Guanjiang began to think about how to deal with the situation, so much so that he couldn't remember the rest of the meeting.

Of course, I didn't really feel involved anyway.

Since Chen Guanjiang is neither an accountant nor a financier, the amount of professional knowledge he possesses is insufficient to support his participation in drafting the Securities Ordinance.

On the contrary, having experienced the "information explosion," their minds were filled with imaginative ideas, and they quickly came up with ways to get out of the predicament.

…………

Reverse repurchase agreements were initiated two weeks ago;

Re-release it after half a month!

During the reverse repurchase, HK$3600 million was used at HK$5.8 per share, for a total of 620 million shares repurchased.

170 million shares were distributed to win over the troops, and 175 million shares were awarded to individuals. The remaining 275 million treasury shares were sold back into the market at HK$15 per share, raising HK$4125 million.

In a single transaction, he acquired 345 million shares, retaining his principal without losing a single penny and even making a profit of HK$525 million in cash. That's how crazy and fascinating the financial market is.

With the information and mindset of the company's absolute controllers, dealing with ordinary retail investors is like Jiang Boyue angrily beheading Cai Xukun—or Jiang Wei beating a chicken!

"Chairman Chen, are there other people shipping goods besides us?"

"Who?"

"Zou Wenhuai!"

“…………”

A smile appeared in Chen Guanjiang's eyes. As long as it wasn't Li Guoneng and Zhou Zhanqiao, that was fine.

After receiving the final payment for the acquisition of Bruce Lee's film rights, Chow Wen-huai began to invest heavily in building a cinema chain, determined to compete with Shaw Brothers.

Unfortunately, this guy was destined to lose to Shao Yifu.

Not only did Shaw Brothers complete its IPO in 71, but this year it also sold the Shaw Building and Sun Wah Theatre to Hang Lung Properties. Now it has extremely abundant cash flow and is a powerful force.

In contrast, when Chow Wen-huai tried to build a cinema chain, he stumbled into a real estate trap. Land prices fell, his assets shrank continuously, and he was about to lose the support of Li Xiaolong.

"Let him be!"

The main reason Chen Guanjiang acquired the copyrights to five of Li Xiaolong's films was indeed the high value of the copyrights; another key factor was profiting from box office fluctuations and exploiting shareholders.

However, luring Zou Wenhuai into a real estate trap was part of Chen Guanjiang's meticulously planned scheme.

The initial estimate for "The Devastating War" was HK$200 million at the box office, and the five-week guarantee plus production debts amounted to no more than HK$18.

In order to settle the payment as soon as possible, Chan Kwun-kong sold the film rights for HK$100 million with a smile.

Putting myself in their shoes, Chen Guanjiang would do the same if he were in Zou Wenhuai's position; it's perfectly normal for small fry to prey on small fry in the capital market.

Putting yourself in their shoes, the frustration and forbearance felt when oppressed are real, and it's perfectly normal to want revenge after becoming powerful.

The news agency, Koo News, underwent a restructuring and listing, which diluted Zou Wenhuai's shareholding to 5%. The subsequent issuance of 2.5 million new shares further diluted his shareholding to 2500%.

All in all, it's only 125 million shares. Even if all of them were sold, it would only fetch HK$1875 million. Do you really think you can climb out of the real estate quagmire with just that little money? You're dreaming.

Chen Guanjiang looked at Ma Boning beside him and asked meaningfully, "Old Ma, you're from the Ma family of the First Shi family, aren't you?"

"Yes." Ma Boning's face showed a slight bitterness.

"First, Shi Ma, Yong'an Guo..."

Chen Guanjiang muttered a couple of sentences and continued, "How did I end up working for the Far East Association?"

Ma Boning replied with a wry smile, "I am the eldest grandson of the third branch. Our lineage is mainly responsible for insurance and trusts. A war destroyed everything, but luckily we still have a skill to make a living..."

In 1860, Chinese laborers were legalized, and millions of them were sold to Australia as "coolies," including Ma Yingbiao's father.

Ma Yingbiao did not follow in his father's footsteps. He learned English by working as an apprentice for free and then accumulated his first pot of gold by reclaiming wasteland to grow bananas.

During his time selling bananas, he discovered that Westerners extremely dislike haggling and shortchanging, and that clear pricing actually made his business more and more successful, leading him to become a fruit distributor in Australia.

In 1900, Ma Yingbiao gathered more than 10 overseas Chinese to raise HK$2.5 and jointly founded the famous Sincere Company, located in a three-story building on Queen's Road Central in Central.

With its two powerful tactics of "fixed prices" and "female sales clerks," it quickly gained a foothold under Lane Crawford's pressure, and its net profit reached HK$9 in just four years.

Capital accumulated rapidly, and expansion never stopped.

Sincere Company expanded from Des Voeux Road in Hong Kong all the way to Nanjing Road in Shanghai, becoming a well-known overseas Chinese tycoon in Southeast Asia in the early 20th century.

The company has successively invested in soft drink factories, glass factories, leather shoe factories, biscuit factories, cosmetics factories, East Asia Hotel, Sincere Life Insurance, Sincere Marine & Fire Insurance, and Sincere Trust Bank.

Unfortunately, even supernatural powers cannot overcome fate!

As the war intensified, Sincere Company's situation became increasingly difficult, and its business shrank until Japan's defeat in 45, when it signed the surrender document and withdrew from Hong Kong.

However, Ma Yingbiao passed away in 44. The once-prosperous Sincere Ma family ultimately fell before dawn, and the once-great Ma family declined and never recovered.

The main branch of the family is in a better position, as they control five large department stores in Hong Kong.

The second branch of the family has lost all its industrial assets and no longer identifies itself as a descendant of "Sincere Ma".

The third branch of the family was even worse off; their insurance and trusts collapsed as soon as the war began.

Ma Boning is a descendant of the third branch of the family. After the family business ended, he worked in the financial industry until the Far East Club was established and he was invited to be the settlement manager.

The listing department, trading department, and settlement department are the core departments of a modern stock exchange.

The Supervision Department, Membership Department, and Finance Department are responsible for logistical support related to overall management and operations.

The administrative department, public affairs department, and archives department are just different departments serving different groups of people; they are not that important.

The Kowloon Society was entirely composed of Chen Pufen's people from top to bottom. The first thing Chen Guanjiang did after taking over the Kowloon Society was to dismiss all the personnel in the core and logistics departments.

In key positions, temporary assistants from the Far East Association and the Gold and Silver Association were all replaced, while the service department staff who were not seriously injured were left behind to observe their performance.

Although the Kowloon Club's operations have been temporarily stabilized, Chen Guanjiang cannot rely on outsiders for help indefinitely.

They wanted to develop their own team, but most of the people working in Hong Kong's financial sector were foreigners, and the few Chinese people they did have had complicated backgrounds that they dared not use.

Therefore, the only solution is to address the issue internally.

Ma Boning was one of the Far East Association's own people. Chen Guanjiang had been watching his work performance all this time. Although he hadn't made any great achievements, it was already quite remarkable that he hadn't caused any trouble.

After quietly reading the story, Chen Guanjiang tentatively invited, "Would you be interested in joining the Kowloon Club? Or perhaps starting in the settlement department?"

"Joining the Kowloon Society..."

Ma Boning was also a smart man. He guessed the situation pretty accurately based on Chen Guanjiang's frequent contact with him and the current state of the Kowloon Society.

As the deputy manager of the settlement department of the Far East Association, Ma Boning was well aware of the power gap between the two associations and was naturally unwilling to join the Kowloon Association. However, Chen Guanjiang's words "first" made him very tempted.

Chairman Chen owns numerous businesses and is still in a phase of rapid expansion; he will not hold onto power in the Kowloon Society indefinitely.

If he performs well, he will have the opportunity to be promoted to president, a path of advancement that the Far East Association will never provide him with.

Ma Boning was tempted but hesitated slightly before saying, "President Chen, it's said that the four associations are about to merge, and your relationship with the Far East Association is quite extraordinary. Would it be...?"

"It's okay."

Chen Guanjiang understood the other party's concerns and advised, "It would be difficult to achieve a balance of interests in the merger of the four associations. There is absolutely no possibility of a merger within at least five years."

"I'll talk to Uncle Zhao. He can poach people from the Far East Association and the Gold and Silver Association however he wants. There's no need to worry about Chairman Hu."

"In addition, after the stability maintenance, I will send you on a business trip for a period of time to learn the electronic trading model of NASDAQ in the United States and copy it completely to Kowloon Club."

Intelligent people never need to say it outright; Li Fuzhao had already abandoned Ma Boning when he sent him.

If the four organizations can merge smoothly, then it will be meaningless who is whose. The only outcome will be whether or not Li Fuzhao becomes the chairman of the Stock Exchange.

If the merger of the four associations is delayed indefinitely, then the Far East Association will inevitably have to send people to support the Kowloon Association in order to prevent the alliance from collapsing and losing its powerful support.

Moreover, with the stock market currently experiencing a bear market, all four exchanges have seen a sharp decline in business, and they no longer need to support as many employees as they did during the bull market, nor can they afford to lay off large numbers of staff.

The fact that some people were recruited into the Kowloon Society is also to save costs for the Far East Society and the Gold and Silver Society. Why would Li Fuzhao and Hu Hanhui have a falling out with Chen Guanjiang over such a thing?

Therefore, from the moment they stepped into the Kowloon Society, they were already members of the Kowloon Society. The only difference was who Chen Guanjiang wanted to use and whether he could get Chen Guanjiang's approval.

In response, Chan Kwun-kong stated that he would not remain content with his current position and would continue to invest in Kowloon Club to realize the world's most advanced electronic trading model.

Chen Guanjiang is not afraid of investment losses after the merger, as the merger of Sihui is definitely not a consensus that can be reached in a short period of time.

Economy, real estate, anti-corruption, homecoming—which of these matters doesn't keep MacLehose busy? How can he possibly have the energy to single-mindedly push for the merger of the four cities?

Once these matters are sorted out and ownership is confirmed, the Hong Kong government will have even less interest in the so-called merger of the four organizations.

At that time, Hong Kong was undergoing a comprehensive transformation into the financial services industry, and the Kowloon Club's status and influence gave it the confidence to say no to the Hong Kong government.

Moreover, the Hong Kong government is happy to see the shift to electronic securities trading.

When the Hang Seng Index was driven to its peak, not only did a lot of dirty money get mixed in, but it also took advantage of overseas funds to leave Hong Kong.

Electronic securities trading eliminates paper stocks, and every transaction is recorded, making it easy to investigate.

In addition, the Hong Kong government's previous collection of only the 0.6% stamp duty, 0.02% compensation levy, and 0.05% SFC transaction fee from stock transactions were not included in the revenue scope.

Nowadays, the large number of companies going public and profiting from the stock market has greatly stimulated the Financial Secretary, who has decided to tax stock investment income. Electronic securitization also makes it easier for the Financial Secretary to collect taxes.

Of course, the main reason for investing in electronic trading is to target banks and financial regulators.

Using physical gold as collateral, one can only obtain a leverage of five times, which shows how poor banks' ability to manage financial risks is nowadays. If HSBC is like this, one can only imagine how other banks are.

Only by implementing electronic trading and increasing the bank's control over funds can Chen Guanjiang apply for higher leverage, thereby accelerating his earning speed.

"I am honored by Chairman Chen's high regard, and I will certainly do my utmost to serve him!" Ma Boning agreed without any hesitation.

The Nasdaq electronic trading model has long been known throughout the financial world. This model abandons the traditional trading floor model and uses electronic screens to provide clear and concise quotes.

If brokerage firms can be connected via computer networks, automated trading systems can be implemented, greatly improving trading efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing market liquidity.

It can be said that electronic trading is something that all exchanges must accomplish, and Kowloon Exchange, which achieves electronic trading as soon as possible, will inevitably surpass the other three exchanges.

Having experience in operating electronic transactions is a significant boost to Ma Boning's qualifications.

Regardless of whether the four associations merge in the future or he leaves the Kowloon Society, this experience will always be his asset.