Chapter 623 Wall Street-style transactions

  Like other financial institutions, Bank of America also had problems in this subprime mortgage crisis, but how can commercial banks with strong financial strength be comparable to those mortgage loan companies, insurance companies and investment banks? As a result, although Bank of America experienced some twists and turns, it quickly reversed the situation, and even took the opportunity to annex several small banks to strengthen itself.

   There are always people who are taking advantage of the fire, and Bank of America is no exception.

  Although Ken Lewis knew that Paulson's will could not be violated, he did not want to be submissive and obedient. He is very clear about the ins and outs of the matter. In his opinion, this favor is owed to Geithner, and now Paulson must pay something if he wants to "invoke the sky".

  Of course, he absolutely did not dare to tell Paulson such thoughts in person. As a super client of Goodman Company, he has dealt with the former CEO a lot, and he knows that he is a man who is elegant on the outside but strong on the inside. When he occupies a favorable position, he does not accept any form of threat at all. Minister, being in a high position has brought out this strong character to the fullest.

If Ken Lewis said this in person, the current tacit understanding between the two parties will be torn apart immediately, and the relationship with the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Reserve will deteriorate rapidly. At that time, Ken Lewis may be fired by the board of directors at the fastest speed. become a victim.

  So the idea of ​​making a request to Paulson must be spoken out by someone else, and the other party must be a person of status, and he must be willing to go all out to lobby.

   Now there is a suitable candidate, that is, Dick Foud, the chairman of the board of directors of Rayman Brothers, because the other party wants him.

  The acquisition of Raymond Brothers is not a big problem for Bank of America. They have wanted to invest in the banking industry for a long time. But Ken Lewis refused to give charity easily. He is a standard businessman, and it is his best choice to maximize the benefits of this matter.

"Ken, I'm Lauder." The phone rang, from Goodman & Co., "I heard you're interested in Lehman Brothers, maybe we can help you with that, and you know we're world-class in financial advisors. "

Lauder Blankfein, the CEO of Goodman Company, was so powerful that he got the news almost immediately, and soon called Ken Lewis, declaring that he was very interested in this deal .

  Ken Lewis is not surprised by this at all. There are too many people on Wall Street who know the sky, and he himself is one of them. After a few pleasantries, he said, "Laud, we are old friends. Is there anything we can't say directly? Tell me your real purpose, otherwise it will be difficult for me to help you."

  He is very clear that there is nothing to go to the Three Treasures Hall. Lauder Blankfein called at this time, he must be planning something.

"Ken, my friend, are you doubting me?" Lauder Blankfein's tone was clearly displeased, but it might have been a disguise, "I'm here to facilitate this deal with all my heart. Do you know that Raymond Brothers is actively trying to save themselves, and although their talks with South Korea have collapsed, this is still a good company, isn't it?"

After saying these words, Lauder Blankfein didn't even believe what he said just now, he was silent for a few seconds in embarrassment, and then said another statement, "Actually, we are planning to acquire Raymond Brothers. "

"What?" Ken Lewis was really surprised at this moment, "Aren't you kidding? You are going to buy Leimen Brothers, how is this possible? My God, has this world changed? It is no longer the life I used to live. world?"

  Ken Lewis’ surprise is justified, because on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers and Goodman are in a competitive relationship with each other. The two businesses are highly overlapping, and there may be a gap in profitability, but it is not so obvious. The acquisition is either for profit, or it is a supplement to the shortcomings of its own business. From the standpoint of Goodman & Co., neither of these motives clearly exists.

   The toxic assets of Leimen Brothers are well known. The acquisition of Leimen Brothers at this time is undoubtedly a poisonous pill. If there is no huge financial support, I am afraid that they will die of poison soon. Bank of America had no concerns in this regard, but for Goodman, the risk was too great for them to bear.

   Another possibility is to supplement your own company's business. But no matter how you evaluate it, Goodman's business is not weaker than the related departments of Lehman Brothers. Maybe there's a mix of individuals, but even if that's the case, there's absolutely no reason to buy an entire company.

   So Ken Lewis was pretty shocked.

  The next moment he realized that this was a complete conspiracy. He said unceremoniously: "Lauder, my friend, if I remember correctly, some time ago Dick Foud also accused you of encouraging traders to release negative news about Raymond Brothers in the market. Also, then The hedge funds that were shorting Lehman Brothers in a big way, don’t they have any involvement with you? I can’t imagine that you would even think about buying Lehman Brothers in this environment, it’s crazy.”

"This world is already crazy, isn't it?" Lauder Blankfein chuckled, "Those are market rumors, and we have never admitted them. In fact, these rumors may be our competitors It’s released to deliberately discredit us, but we don’t bother to refute it, it doesn’t make any sense. But what I want to tell you is that we are indeed considering acquiring Raymond Brothers!”

   "Could they be Paulson's helpers specially sent to drive up the price? Or did they really come up with the idea of ​​acquiring Raymond Brothers?"

  At this moment, Ken Lewis was in a state of confusion, his head spinning like a running motor, thinking about what was going on behind the scenes, but how could he figure it out in a short while?

Lauder Blankfein ignored Ken Lewis' silence and continued: "The current market is really chaotic. It reminds me of the deflation in the 1970s, the stock market crash in the 1980s, and the turmoil in 1998. After so many years, Leimen The brothers survived, and as their old rivals, we really have the obligation and responsibility to help them tide over this difficulty. But if we buy it, I believe that the name Leimen Brothers should not continue to exist.”

"Ken, you are an old friend of mine. You should know the style and culture of our Goodman company. I was thinking, if we really want to buy Rayman Brothers, should we consider letting one of them out? Then we will have a good understanding of Raymond Brother Men has a full assessment, and he won't be threatened during the negotiation, don't you think?"

   "What did you say?" Ken Lewis suddenly shouted.

  Lauder Blankfein on the phone was taken aback, "I said we need to get out of the family, and don't be used by others as a tool to drive up prices."

"No, no, no!" Ken Lewis laughed suddenly, "Lauder, I finally understand your plan. It turns out that you wanted to replicate what happened in 1998, and it really was a good plan. God, no wonder you guys It is the largest investment bank on Wall Street, but at this time, it still has the idea of ​​taking advantage of the fire, God!"

  He said two "God" in a row. Although he was smiling on his face, he was full of contempt in his heart.

It turned out that during the crisis of 1998, the Long-Term Capital Management Company encountered a crisis. Goodman’s bankers stole their account books and all position information from the Long-Term Capital Management Company under the guise of an acquisition, and thus opened positions in reverse. , and finally made a fortune.

   Although Goodman has been strongly denying this unconfirmed news, Wall Street generally believes that this news is true. Of course, in the end, Goodman did not participate in the list of bailing out Long-Term Capital Management.

   Now, the management of Goodman Company has seized the opportunity and plans to repeat this kind of action again, waiting for an opportunity to make another profit on the matter of Raymond Brothers. Different from the single investment of Long-term Capital Management Company, the assets held by Lehman Brothers include various positions such as stocks, corporate bonds, bonds, foreign exchange, and futures. And once the information is known, the benefits that can be obtained are definitely very rich.

   Insidious, very insidious.

  That's all Ken Lewis felt.

Lauder Blankfein, who had his mind broken, was also very surprised. He never expected that the other party would guess his mind, but he couldn't admit it, and said embarrassingly: "Ken, what you said is contrary to business. Morality, we would never do it. But from what you said, I think there may be a problem with the board's decision to acquire Lehman Brothers, and I think we need to continue to discuss this issue."

  The implication is naturally not to mention the acquisition. Since Ken Lewis was able to guess it, it was natural that the Leimen Brothers would guess it too. Lauder Blankfein felt a little stupid at this moment, and underestimated the entire market.

"Since this is the case, it is a good thing that we have one less competitor." Ken Lewis was in a very good mood, and joked along the topic of Lauder Blankfein just now, "I think if Dick If Fude is smart, he should sell it to me for a good price."

"No!" Lauder Blankfein did not accept such ridicule, and his tone became deep and serious, "Ken, you will not buy Raymond Brothers. Yes, you heard correctly, and you will I will not buy Leimen Brothers!"

   "What? Are you ordering me?" Ken Lewis was taken aback for a moment, and then a burst of anger rushed from his chest to the Tianling Gai, almost making him lose his composure. But he quickly controlled his emotions, and said darkly, "Laud, maybe I can take what you just said as a threat, can't I?"

  Although investment banks are capable of controlling the wind and rain in the capital market, they are obviously not enough compared to commercial banks, which are often behemoths. So after Lauder Blankfein said what he just said, Ken Lewis was obviously irritated.

   "National Financial Corporation!"

  Lauder Blankfein just said this name, and Ken Lewis immediately calmed down. He knew that the opponent had hit his vital point.

  National Financial Corporation is a housing loan institution with business all over the United States, and it is a top presence in the industry. Naturally, such a company suffered heavy losses in the subprime mortgage crisis and was on the verge of collapse. At this time, Bank of America bought it.

   In fact, Bank of America has no good men and women. The reason why it bought National Financial Corporation is because the Federal Reserve once put pressure on it to increase its core capital. An official of the Federal Reserve Open Committee promised Bank of America that if the other party acquired National Financial Corporation, Bank of America would not need to raise more funds to increase core capital.

   Under such coercion and lure, Bank of America acquired National Financial Corporation in July to ensure that it would not go bankrupt. But problems soon emerged. The situation deteriorated too quickly. The previous hints from Fed officials no longer worked, and Bank of America was still required to increase core capital. In order to negotiate with the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, Ken Lewis needs leverage.

   This bargaining chip is to help the government solve the Leimen Brothers, and then get help from the government.

"I can help you convince Secretary Paulson!" Lauder Blankfein's voice was calm and indifferent, sounding devoid of emotion, "But I also need you to assure me that you don't want to meddle in Kaminarimon." Brother's acquisition, this is not a company worth acquiring!"

   "Believe me, Dick Foud will definitely not be able to do this!" Finally Lauder Blank said with certainty.

   "Deal!" Ken Lewis only thought for a minute before readily agreeing. But after saying that, he regretted it, because he still had to explain to Geithner and Paulson, which immediately gave him a headache.

   Thanks to book friends Shi Huangtian and Jiangnan Liu Feiyan for voting monthly tickets! Thanks to Xiaoqi for the miracle of civilization! I'm sorry I was delayed by something yesterday and didn't have time to write. After taking half a month's leave, there are a lot of things piled up, and it may take 10 o'clock in the future to come out, but the author will try to write it out as early as possible. I hope you will continue to pay attention and support, thank you~

  

  

  (end of this chapter)