1RomanceEB Chapter 49 The Scoundrel Digs for Gold and Silver
Chapter 49 The Scoundrel Digs for Gold and Silver
On November 29, the share swap was carried out as scheduled, and Hongkong Land announced in the evening that it had successfully acquired Dairy Farm.
On November 30, Hongkong Land published a full-page GG (Good News) announcement, stating that it had acquired an 80% stake in Dairy Farm.
This financial event, dubbed "Jackson Duck Milk" for its full month-long run from October 30th to November 30th, has finally come to an end.
But the matter was far from over!
Despite successfully acquiring Dairy Farm International Holdings, Hongkong Land's share price did not surge as expected. Instead, it plummeted to HK$48 per share, even lower than before the share swap announcement.
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Originally, the exchange of Milk Company stock certificates for shares was to be conducted, and both parties agreed that the Hongkong Land stock certificates should be delivered on the 30th.
However, due to Hongkong Land's announcement of a share split on November 27, the new shares were to be delivered 11 days later, resulting in the Milky Way shareholders who swapped their shares not receiving Hongkong Land's paper share certificates.
Without paper stock certificates, it is impossible to sell stocks; according to the Prevention of Stock Speculation Misconduct Act, selling stocks without paper stock certificates is illegal.
then!
The original shareholders of Milk Company, who were involved in the share swap, nominally held shares in Hongkong Land, but were unable to sell them because they did not have paper share certificates. They could only watch helplessly as the share price continued to fall.
Long-term shareholders can at most just accept their bad luck, but short-term speculators using leverage are getting restless.
Although most stock investors can only apply for double leverage, only a minority of them are forced to liquidate their positions when the stock price is halved.
but!
Leverage rates are already much higher than normal loans, many even calculated on a daily basis. How many people can withstand the continuous decline in stock prices while bearing high interest rates?
People rushed to the streets to protest Jardine Matheson's failure to provide paper stock certificates as scheduled, leaving the Hong Kong government in a state of utter disarray.
With multiple positive factors combined, how can the speed of securities law legislation keep up with the soaring stock market? In comparison, dealing with the issues of stock exchanges is more urgent.
Before the establishment of the Far East Stock Exchange, only the Hong Kong Stock Exchange held a dominant position, overseeing all matters related to listings and brokerage firms in Hong Kong.
Not only were the number and quality of listed companies restricted, but after the war, only 60 brokerage licenses were issued, with no more.
When Li Fuzhao was six years old, his father carried him on his shoulders to learn how to trade stocks. After obtaining a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Pennsylvania and becoming a certified public accountant, he has been active in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
however!
The Hong Kong brokerage firm has only 60 licenses, most of which are controlled by British people. Only three are held by Chinese and two by foreign companies. These licenses are extremely valuable, like family heirlooms, and are never sold. They are priceless and have no market.
Even though he comes from the Lee Pei Choi family and is one of the third-generation leaders, Lee Fu Zhao still cannot buy a brokerage license.
and so!
Li Fuzhao, that madman, then established the Far East Association, directly setting up a separate faction and severing ties with the Hong Kong Association, leaving the Hong Kong government at a loss.
There is no law in Hong Kong that prohibits the establishment of a stock exchange. In fact, the "Hong Kong Club" is not a public institution but a private enterprise. What is not prohibited by law is permissible.
In order to suppress the newly established Far East Club, the Hong Kong Club did not allow its 60 brokerage firms to cooperate with it, and it also did not allow the stocks of companies listed on the Hong Kong Club to be listed on the Far East Club.
You have Zhang Liangji, I have a wall ladder.
It doesn't matter if the Far East Association doesn't have any listed companies trading stocks; it can simply list a batch of companies to trade stocks.
Therefore, Li Fuzhao directly announced on television, newspapers and other media outlets that as long as the registered capital exceeds HK$2000 million, even restaurants and teahouses can be listed on the Far East Club.
This has stirred up a hornet's nest!
For a long time, the number of listed companies in Hong Kong has remained at around 65, with only 59 listed companies before the establishment of the Far East Club.
After the Far East Association was established, fifteen companies went public that year, seven of which were British-owned and eight were entirely controlled by Chinese capital.
This number and scale were clearly no match for the Hong Kong Club, so in 1970 another 20 companies were listed. This not only stunned the Hong Kong Club, but also the Hong Kong government.
In 69 and 70, many companies went public to cash out and leave, resulting in only 13 companies going public in 71, which was within the acceptable range.
but!
Last year, a gold and silver exchange was established, which once again sparked a frenzy of companies raising their stakes to go public. This year, 1972, the number of listed companies directly exceeded one hundred.
As a result, Chen Pufen, who also has a family background and a certified public accountant qualification, facilitated the listing of his family's Anning Enterprise on the Kowloon Stock Exchange at the beginning of the year.
Anning Enterprise has a registered capital of only HK$857 million, but its market value exceeded HK$4000 million after listing. What the hell can they do with ready-made garments? They should just go public already!
Chen Pufen was not only preparing for the listing of Xiangjiang Antenna, but also Zhongtong Enterprise and Dongfang Finance, as well as Xiangjiang Computer, a company with the same name as Xiangjiang Antenna.
As of now, more than 100 companies have applied for listing by March next year.
If the Hong Kong government doesn't step in to stop this, there could be over 300 companies listing next year. What the hell is this supposed to be?!
Looking at these listed companies, what kind of things are they?
This year, a total of 33 Chinese-owned real estate companies went public. Chinese-owned companies have long been suppressed by British-owned companies. Where did so many real estate companies come from?
Apart from the "Five Tigers of Real Estate" who are truly qualified to go public, the vast majority are just filling in the numbers.
In addition, 14 other companies that use real estate as a front but whose main businesses are investment, credit, mortgages, and financial consulting are also able to go public, which is completely disrupting the market.
Restaurants, eyeglasses, hardware, and medicated oils can all be listed on the stock exchange. Even more amazing is that a company called "International Restaurant and Nightclub Real Estate" has been listed. It's simply a chaotic mess.
With such an all-encompassing listing, even Japanese and Singaporean companies are joining in the fun.
Furthermore, these stocks are not traded in Hong Kong dollars, but in Japanese yen and Singapore dollars. What kind of monsters and demons are these?
The numerous irregularities frightened the Hong Kong government into halting the establishment of the "New Territories Stock Exchange," which was in the process of being planned, and rejecting the applications of four stock exchanges regardless of their legality.
Free market economy!
It's about free trade, not messing around or letting these bastards use the banner of freedom to exploit others.
Nowadays, the Hong Kong government is actively communicating with the three newly established stock exchanges, and it has no time to pay attention to the more than 100 companies waiting to be listed. So how can it have the mind to care about the trivial matters of the Jardine Matheson Group?
Therefore, the Hong Kong government turned a blind eye to this blatant robbery by Jardine Matheson, leaving shareholders who couldn't get their shares to watch their wealth shrink without any recourse.
certainly…
Just because MacLehose doesn't have the energy to deal with it right now doesn't mean this matter can be glossed over.
At this juncture, anyone who dares to use this incident to set up a scheme and exploit investors will inevitably have to give an explanation later.
certainly…
Henry Keswick understood this principle, but once he made a wrong step, there was no turning back; he could only continue down this path to ruin.
Therefore, instead of taking advantage of this opportunity to list Jardine Fleming Bank, the Jardine Fleming Group listed Jardine Investments and Jardine Securities in succession.
Since they're bound to face repercussions anyway, they might as well feast before making a move. If they don't get involved now, the Chinese capital will really devour all the meat...