Chapter 1033: HSBC was badly taken advantage of

After successfully fooling Wang Ping and Li Hua, Xia Yu had no more worries and continued to promote the stock market crash.

In other words,

Due to the rumours that were spread, the share price of the Swire Pacific Group fell even more. At the morning break, its market value had fallen below 10 billion Hong Kong dollars, closing at 8.13 billion Hong Kong dollars. In the morning, its market value had evaporated by 5.1 billion Hong Kong dollars, and the decline was no less than yesterday.

Other listed companies of the Swire Group, such as Swire Shipping Company, Swire Warehousing Company, Swire Industrial Group, etc., also had rumours circulating about them, and the share prices of these companies also collapsed.

Norman Shiawei never imagined that the market value that had risen over the past month would evaporate by 80% in just over a day, and that it would probably all be gone today!

Norman Shiawei, who was over 60 years old, was like a man on fire, and his emotions were in a state of rage and panic all morning.

While Xia Yu was casually fooling around with Wang Ping in the afternoon, Norman Shiawei was busy running around with bloodshot eyes.

Because Norman Shiyahuai has many years of business connections, despite rumours circulating outside that he has appropriated billions of dollars of shareholder interests, the Hong Kong government has not yet sent anyone to investigate, nor has it restricted his exit from the country.

However, without official pressure, the pressure from banks alone, including HSBC, has already made Norman Shiyahuai want to collapse.

The headquarters of the Swire Group.

It was the middle of the day, the scorching sun beating down, making the journalists gathered below the headquarters of the Swire Group uncomfortable. However, none of these journalists were willing to leave. They gathered in groups of two or three, discussing how the Shih Yawei family would respond. From time to time, they looked up at the upper floors of the building, as if they could see the emergency meeting taking place inside.

The large conference room of the Swire Group.

All the senior executives and heads of subsidiaries were there, listening to Norman Shih Yawei's 'rant' at the head of the table.

Norman Shih Yawei's face was red, his eyes bloodshot, giving off an eerie feeling.

His bloodshot eyes scanned the room, and he shouted his orders in a somewhat hysterical voice: 'Listen up, there are reporters downstairs, and a press conference will be held immediately after this meeting. You will all come with me to make a statement. I don't care what you do, but when you get back, you must immediately raise funds and commission Swire Finance to repurchase the shares, do whatever it takes to stabilise the stock price. If anyone fails, they will be removed from their positions...'

'Did you hear me clearly!'

A roar of anger scared many people, and they immediately answered loudly.

'I heard you clearly!'

'The meeting is adjourned, follow me downstairs!'

After saying that, Norman Shiyahuai walked towards the door with the support of his nephew.

Soon, Norman Shiyahuai and his entourage arrived downstairs. He ordered someone to stop the crazy reporters, took everyone to the simple stage that had been set up in advance, and held a press conference.

During the press conference, Norman Shiawei denied all rumours and claimed that the rumour-mongers would pay a heavy price. He then vowed that Swire Group was in good health, including the parent company, and that all listed companies had sufficient funds and would repurchase shares at all costs.

Throughout the press conference, Norman Shiawei tried his best to remain calm and confident, for fear that his ugly appearance would be maliciously interpreted and cause even greater harm.

After the short press conference, Norman Sjöwall, who was spinning the company internally, could no longer hold back and returned to a state of shock and anger.

Then, Norman Shiawai received a phone call from HSBC, from Shen Bi himself, which drove Norman Shiawai crazy. Tired and exhausted, he had to force himself to pull himself together and rush to HSBC with his nephew Wade Shiawai.

When Norman Shiawai arrived at HSBC, he was greeted by a busy scene. Despite being off-hours, the entire bank headquarters lobby was packed with people, all of them there to withdraw money.

Hong Kong has had several stock market crashes and bank collapses over the past twenty years, so when a crash occurs, the smarter people immediately think of withdrawing their savings, even if it is from HSBC!

Shen Bi is also worried that some irrational citizens don't understand, so during this special period, in order to avoid things becoming more complicated, he simply dares not let his employees go home, and all operations continue as normal.

Of course, these operations do not include external loans...

When Norman Schiavi found Shen Bi, Shen Bi was busy coordinating work, instructing employees to recover payments at all costs.

Seeing that this was not the place for conversation, Shen Bi could only say a few words hastily, and then led Norman Schiawei to his office.

Seeing the door close, Norman Schiawei hurriedly said, 'Michael, you must help me...'

Before Norman could finish, Shen, who was also under immense pressure, interrupted him firmly and said resolutely, 'Norman, I can't help you this time!'

'I also need a lot of money!'

'Now all the assets you pledged as collateral are being locked up, and they are rapidly approaching the warning line. If you can't come up with enough money to replenish the margin pool, then I'll have to resort to extraordinary measures.'

'Michael, you know my situation. I'm going crazy. I need a lot of money now to buy back shares to stabilise the stock price. I can't come up with much. These are extraordinary times. Only you can help me. If my Swire conglomerate collapses, HSBC will likewise...' Norman Shiawei's face was very ugly, but he tried desperately to persuade Shen Bi.

Shen Biao, who was also under immense pressure, shouted again in a louder voice, 'Norman, I told you I don't have any money to lend you. You saw when you arrived, didn't you? The people withdrawing money have filled the entire hall and are queuing up to the road. HSBC cannot go down with you!'

'I've helped you enough already!'

Norman Shiyahuai simply did not believe that HSBC would run out of money. In Hong Kong, HSBC was the only straw he could grab to save his life, and it was absolutely impossible to make him give up so easily!

'Michael, didn't I give HSBC 1.674 billion Hong Kong dollars last month when I bought shares in HSBC? How could HSBC be out of money?'

'If you lend me this money again, I will take out enough assets as collateral!'

Hearing Norman Shiyawei's words, Shen Bi's remorse grew stronger and stronger. He wished he could slap himself a few times. Why did he let greed get the better of him and fall for the trap set by Jiuding Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, taking over some of the loan business and assets that the two banks had dumped at low prices, causing the majority of the liquidity to be consumed?

It can be said that in the past few years, HSBC's cash flow has never been so low as it is now!

At present, the entire Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation only has a little over 600 million Hong Kong dollars in liquid funds.

The securities department of HSBC, which is another money bag, has all its funds locked up at this time, and if it is not released, the liquidation of positions is not far off, and at that time, HSBC will have to bear huge losses again.

The collateral for the loans between HSBC and the Swire Group and the Shih Ya-huai family is worth 70 to 80 billion Hong Kong dollars in assets, and a large part of it is the equity of various companies in the Swire Group, which will suffer huge losses in this regard.

Once the news is revealed, the more than 600 million Hong Kong dollars currently in HSBC's accounts will not be enough to cover the depositors' withdrawals, let alone the losses.

Moreover, with the stock market crash now upon us, HSBC's share price is plummeting, and he will also need funds to stabilise it.

So now, facing the dire situation of HSBC in Hong Kong, Shen Bi has completely turned into a stubborn old man, and no one can pluck a single hair from him!

Not only that, he is also thinking of raising funds everywhere to enhance the bank's ability to withstand risks.

However, these circumstances are absolutely impossible for Simpact to tell Norman Shih Yawei.

He didn't explain at all, and his attitude was as tough as before.

It's not that he doesn't care about the friendship between friends, but Norman Shih Yawei also doesn't care about friendship. At this time, he still wants to take out a loan with his assets. He is about to be badly hit by the assets of the Swire Group and the Shih Yawei family, and he would only be crazy to take on a time bomb again!

'Norman, don't waste your time here. You'd better find a way to raise funds quickly. The assets you have mortgaged with us, once they become insolvent, you will be in breach of contract. In order to reduce losses, as long as someone pays the money, I will sell it to avoid further losses!'

'I have to be responsible for the shareholders and the parent company!'

'I hope you can understand!'

At this point, Shen Bi's gaze was like a knife, locked directly with Norman Shi Yahuai's, his gaze more determined than ever, showing that he would do exactly as he said.