Chapter 571: 556 Five Star Bank goes public, the whole of Hong Kong watches!

Noon, 12:30,

Mong Kok.

At the entrance of Macro-Credit Bank,

"Let me in quickly!"

"Don't block me!"

"I want to withdraw all my money!"

"Five Star Bank is our own bank; I want to withdraw my money and deposit it into Five Star Bank!"

"Right, right, right. Who knows when Macro-Credit will go bankrupt? If it does, my money will be gone."

The crowd surged, packing the entrance so tightly not even a drop of water could pass through.

And inside the lobby, it was even more crowded than a dog pile.

Although the weather was a bit cold, the noise of the crowd made the atmosphere feel scorching.

And upstairs,

The bank's shareholders gathered in the conference room.

An arowana swam back and forth in the fish tank, looking very leisurely.

The fragrance of tea drifted out constantly, making people unable to help but relax their minds.

But...

In this situation,

The shareholders' moods were still very heavy.

"Everyone..."

The chairman of the board had a serious expression: "Our bank is currently facing a bank run crisis, and our cash reserves are only 20%. We simply cannot handle such a massive run..."

"Last time, we rejected Five Star Bank's offer to underwrite, thinking we could save ourselves. But this time, Guan Zu released that 30% restricted circulating stock to all Hong Kong citizens. Everyone has seen the situation downstairs; they all want to withdraw their money!"

"We simply cannot withstand this kind of run."

"And just now, Five Star Bank issued an ultimatum, saying we must make a decision before this afternoon."

"Let's discuss whether we should accept Five Star Group's conditions."

One shareholder gave up directly: "Do we have any other choice right now? If we don't accept, we will go bankrupt immediately."

They were all capitalists; greed was their nature.

Until the very last moment, they didn't want to sell out their interests cheaply.

But Guan Zu releasing 30% to the general public directly made all the bank's shareholders feel a bit desperate.

And the crowd running downstairs now—the number was truly astonishing, which just confirmed one point: their bank was finished!

Therefore,

All that was left for them to do was—

Surrender!

Another shareholder also gave up: "Although I hate this punk Guan Zu, everyone knows his reputation in Hong Kong. Since he dares to make such a promise, he will surely keep his word."

Everyone was a businessman.

Although they hated Guan Zu.

But money is money; if they could avoid bankruptcy, they would try their best to avoid it.

As for asking HSBC for help?

Don't even mention whether HSBC could protect itself; given HSBC's nature, they would likely swallow them whole, bones and all.

Soon,

Opinions were unified,

And they hurriedly called Five Star Group.

Mr. Guan, spare us!

10 minutes later,

The bank director, sweating profusely, came to the bank lobby, stood on a chair, and held a megaphone.

At this time,

The bank tellers were counting money until their fingers smoked, giving cash to the citizens.

The scene was extremely crowded, with everyone anxious to withdraw their money.

The director held the megaphone and shouted loudly at the noisy crowd:

"Everyone, be quiet! Listen to me!"

"I am the bank's director..."

"My name is..."

The citizens turned their gazes toward them.

"Fellow neighbors, please rest assured. We are an important partner of Five Star Bank. Your savings accounts will be underwritten and guaranteed by Five Star Bank."

"Five Star Bank has an excellent reputation and strong strength; it will definitely guarantee everyone's funds!"

"Everyone doesn't need to be so anxious to withdraw."

The director tried hard to make his voice sound full of confidence.

However, a voice of doubt came from the crowd.

"Really? Is this reliable?"

"That's not right, is it? Your bank's name isn't on the list."

"Don't be lying to us!"

Just as everyone was half-believing, people from Five Star Property arrived.

Li Cangdong.

Many neighbors recognized Li Cangdong and had all received help from him.

"Mr. Li!"

"It's Mr. Li from Five Star Property!"

"He really came."

The director breathed a sigh of relief.

With Five Star Group's people here, everything was calm.

"Hello everyone, my name is Li Cangdong, and I am the person in charge of Five Star Property in Yau Tsim Mong... The neighbors here must know me..."

As Li Cangdong entered and gave his speech,

The doubts in the citizens' hearts gradually dissipated.

"I know Mr. Li; he really is one of the people in charge of Five Star Property..."

"Since Five Star Group has made a promise, there shouldn't be a problem."

Gradually, the crowd dispersed one after another.

The boss looked at the bank lobby, which was becoming spacious and calm, and the heavy stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.

The same scene happened in small banks all over Hong Kong.

Those small banks had no choice; while cursing Guan Zu as the "Industry King of Hell" and "Paraquat," they had to hold their noses and sell assets cheaply to Guan Zu to seek help.

Of course, the good news was...

Although Five Star Bank cut prices and took advantage of the situation, it actually kept a bottom line and didn't strike too hard.

They didn't suffer a bloody loss.

Some people swallowed their anger,

And some people harbored evil intentions.

At a certain bank.

In the chairman's office, smoke billowed, like a fairyland.

"Cough, cough, cough~~~~"

"Cough, cough, cough~~~"

"Damn Americans, everyone smoking, making the whole office a mess..."

"You punks, I've already been diagnosed with lung cancer..."

A non-smoking shareholder with lung cancer was very irritable.

At this time, one of the shareholders slammed the table: "Damn it, this time we lost so much because of them. Why don't we find someone to kill the people from Five Star Group?"

"??"

All the shareholders broke out in a collective cold sweat.

"Don't, don't, don't~~~"

"Do you not want your life?"

"If you want to die, don't drag us with you..."

"If the bank loses money, it loses money. I still have a lot of money left to spend; it's not worth risking my life."

The brave shareholder refused to accept it: "We can find a hitman."

"Hitman your sister! The entire Hong Kong underworld listens to Guan Zu. Do you believe the hitman would betray us immediately?!"

"Besides, last time, more than 20 mercenaries all died. Guan Zu didn't suffer any losses at all."

"What hitman could handle him?"

"Do you believe I'll be the first to report you!"

"............"

The brave shareholder was scolded until he was bloody.

In the end, he didn't dare to mention hiring a hitman again.

Because he was afraid of being betrayed by this group... they were truly capable of it!

One by one, they had no loyalty!

And at this time,

Inside the HSBC main branch lobby.

The same scene as the other banks occurred.

Gongs and drums were loud, and there was a sea of people,

"Move aside!"

"Stop pushing!"

"Who is pushing my butt? I'm a 60-year-old granny; how can you have the heart to do this? It's pitiful!"

These citizens were all here to withdraw money.

Five Star Bank is our own bank; naturally, I have to support my own.

Therefore, they all ran over to withdraw money.

In front of the service window,

"I want to withdraw money! Hurry up and take my money out!"

A gray-haired old man shouted loudly.

At the window next to him, an old woman said: "I've saved money for over ten years, all here. Now I want to withdraw it and deposit it into Five Star Bank. Hurry up!"

The bank tellers were overwhelmed, their mouths on fire.

"Everyone, don't push; come one by one!"

"Don't be anxious, don't be anxious, there is still money!"

"How could such a big bank like HSBC not have money?"

"Please trust HSBC's strength."

On the second floor,

The person in charge of the lobby, Henry Williams, was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor, looking at the "liveliness" downstairs, furious and cursing.

"Fuck!!"

"This Guan Zu, opening a company, not thinking about making money for himself, but wanting to scatter money to those poor people... Is he sick?"

"That's right, he is sick!" A chubby executive cursed through gritted teeth, kicking the wall in anger, resulting in an "Ah~~~" as he twisted his foot.

Williams quickly thought of a crooked trick and called the secretary: "Go notify those tellers, slow down the speed of processing cash withdrawals for me!"

In a flash,

It was 17:00.

The HSBC business department officially closed.

There were still many citizens who had been queuing for a long time, cursing.

18:30,

At Kai Tak Airport, HSBC's big boss Ainuoer, preparing to take a plane to the UK, received the summary of the capital situation reported by all HSBC and Hang Seng business departments in Hong Kong.

In just one afternoon,

HSBC's total cash reserves (37% of total savings deposits) were directly consumed by 21%...

That is to say,

With the current cash reserves, it could only last until Friday or next Monday; by next Tuesday, there would be a situation where there wasn't enough cash.

At that time, it would definitely cause a bank run panic.

And over at Hang Seng, it was faster, consuming 36% of cash reserves in half a day.

It would be finished by Monday!

Thinking of this, big boss Ainuoer couldn't help but feel irritable.

19:00,

ATV News appeared in front of many citizens on time.

"Currently, Five Star Bank has signed underwriting agreements with more than 90 banks..."

"The list of banks is..."

"Today, none of these banks experienced a bank run, and citizens do not need to panic and run to withdraw..."

"Today, due to the establishment of Five Star Bank, the Hang Seng Financial Index fell by 16%..."

"The Hang Seng Index fell by 5%..."

"Five Star Bank's 104 business departments welcomed a deposit boom today..."

"As of 17:30 today, the total deposits of Five Star Bank exceeded 130 billion..."

"In addition, the 'Million Shareholding Plan' launched by Five Star Bank, as of 17:30 today, has had 450,000 citizens come to subscribe..."

"Furthermore, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Hang Seng, East Asia, and other banks all experienced bank run incidents..."

"Tomorrow, which is January 3rd, Friday, Five Star Bank will use a shell to re-list on the Hong Kong stock market and will join the Hang Seng Index list..."

"This is also Five Star Group's first listed company..."

"Governor Fat Peng stated that stability in Hong Kong is greater than everything, and the Financial Secretary and the Monetary Authority will continue to pay attention to the healthy operation of the Hong Kong stock market..."

"Five Star Group and Five Star Bank issued a statement welcoming companies with capital needs to seek cooperation and win-win results with Five Star Bank..."

This Thursday night,

The citizens of Hong Kong spent the time in this lively, worried, anxious, excited, and expectant atmosphere... time passed.

One night passed,

A new day,

Sunlight shone on Hong Kong, prosperous and full of vitality.

Today is Friday, the last day of the stock market this week.

Early in the morning,

Major newspaper stands were surrounded by people, all buying today's newspapers.

"Five Star wildly rapes the banking industry, major banks unable to resist"

"Five Star Bank stirs up the financial circle, major banks weakly endure the impact"

The headlines of the newspapers were sensational and thought-provoking.

The newspapers detailed the huge impact Five Star Bank brought to the entire financial industry after its establishment, as well as the difficult situation of other banks in this storm.

On the streets and alleys, people's topics also revolved around Five Star Bank.

In the tea restaurants, old men, old women, and office workers were eating breakfast while discussing enthusiastically.

"Five Star Bank giving loans to the poor to buy shares is a real benefit."

"Right, Mr. Guan is truly thinking for us common people."

There were also a large number of newspaper headlines that were—

"Will Five Star Bank's listing today break the issue price, or will it rise all the way?"

"Today, the highly anticipated Five Star Bank is about to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange..."

"Among them, the 'Million Shareholding Plan' not only quickly gathered a large amount of private capital but also greatly enhanced citizens' sense of identity and participation in the bank."

"According to data, yesterday, in just half a day, Five Star Bank's total deposits exceeded 130 billion Hong Kong dollars."

"Regarding Five Star Bank's listing performance today, market parties have different views."

"Some investors are optimistic about its prospects..."

"But some market figures are cautious..."

"Today, will Five Star Bank break the issue price on its first day of listing, or will it be able to rely on its own strength to rise all the way and become the new darling of the Hong Kong stock market? This suspense is about to be revealed in the pre-market bidding at 9:10 at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange..."

Not just reports,

At this time, ATV and TVB, two television stations, had directly placed their live broadcast equipment inside the trading hall of the Stock Exchange.

The camera covered the entire hall.

ATV's Le Huizhen: "Dear viewers and friends, we are currently at the scene of the trading hall of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As you can see, it is already crowded with people..."

TVB reporter: "From our camera, we can see that the staff is making final preparations... There are 5 minutes left until 9:00..."

"We will broadcast Five Star Bank's debut in the capital market for everyone throughout the process..."

Soon,

9:00,

Pre-market bidding began,

The code for Five Star Bank () appeared at the top of the big screen for the first time, and the issue price of 10 Hong Kong dollars was highlighted in a red box.

At this time,

Everyone in Hong Kong who was paying attention to Five Star Bank looked at the TV, staring intently.

A million citizens, all watching!

Soon,

The bidding price on the screen jumped rapidly from 10.1 Hong Kong dollars to 10.8 Hong Kong dollars, and a small amount of sell orders (Five Star, shareholders, venture capital) were snapped up as soon as they were hung up.

Subsequently, the price continued to rise to 11.2 Hong Kong dollars, 11.8 Hong Kong dollars, 12 Hong Kong dollars...

9:28:31, the bidding reached 12.5 Hong Kong dollars, an increase of 25% over the issue price.

At 9:30, when the gong sounded, Five Star Bank's buy-one price had been hung at 13 Hong Kong dollars.

Few sellers, many buyers.

Simply couldn't buy it!

Simply couldn't buy it!

Just past 9:30, Five Star Bank's () stock price galloped like a wild horse that had broken its reins.

13.2 Hong Kong dollars, 13.5 Hong Kong dollars...

The entire trading hall was filled with exclamations and gasps...

The numbers on the screen continued to jump, 13.8 Hong Kong dollars, 14 Hong Kong dollars...

Sham Shui Po, No. 1 Sunshine Community.

In the canteen, in front of the TV,

Gu Yaozu, Ah Hui, Tang San, the Daoist... dozens of people, all staring at the TV screen.

"It's rising, it's rising!"

"13.5 Hong Kong dollars..."

"14 Hong Kong dollars..."

"14.5 Hong Kong dollars..."

"Hahaha~~~"

"That is to say, if I held 20,000 Hong Kong dollars in shares, it has now risen by 45%! That means I earned 9,000 Hong Kong dollars!"

Originally poor, seeing this, they were already cheering and shouting excitedly.

Many people were moved to tears.

"It's worth half a year of our savings."

"Making money is so easy!"

"It's not that making money is easy, but that Mr. Guan gave us the opportunity to make money."

"Right, it's Mr. Guan who gave us the opportunity."

"It rose again, 15 Hong Kong dollars! It's rising so fast!"

In another place,

An ordinary, narrow rented room,

Blind Fai and Xiao Hui were also watching the TV, looking at the constantly rising numbers, clumsily calculating how much money they could earn.

"It's 16!"

"We can earn 12,000!"

The two were moved to tears.

All over Hong Kong, those hundreds of thousands of poor citizens widened their eyes, seeing that constantly rising upward curve.

Excited~~

Tears~~

Running around telling each other~~~

Making money, too easy!

I'll go through fire and water for you, Mr. Guan!

————————

PS: Because there is a problem with my eyes (no tears, uncomfortable, it's been a long time), I have to go to Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center today, so I'm asking for leave for one chapter.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 572 =====