Chapter 564: Time to Take Action

In just two days, the 4.145 billion Hong Kong dollars obtained from selling 176,000 ounces of gold, along with the original 120 million in liquid assets, had dwindled to just 60 million Hong Kong dollars!

Even if Zhuang Rongkun were a fool, he would realize he was being set up, but he didn't know by whom and had no time to investigate.

That day, in the Central Hong Kong office of Henglong Bank, Zhuang Rongkun sat on the sofa with a gloomy expression. Opposite him sat a man who resembled him but was older—his brother Zhuang Qingquan, who managed a steel group in the Philippines.

However, Zhuang Qingquan's expression was also dark.

In just two days, Henglong Bank had lost over 400 million Hong Kong dollars in its gold futures business, and the losses were still mounting. The bank's financial chain was about to break, which shocked him greatly.

After his younger brother Zhuang Rongkun's explanation, Zhuang Qingquan understood that it wasn't his brother's fault. After all, he would have fallen victim too, as their business philosophies were similar.

Zhuang Qingquan asked in a deep voice, "Do you know who is behind this?"

Zhuang Rongkun looked ashamed and shook his head, saying, "I had someone investigate, but we couldn't find out. The buyers of the gold futures are all proxies."

Zhuang Qingquan's expression became serious as he pondered for a moment and then asked about the key data, "Have you had someone calculate the abnormal gold futures volume?"

Zhuang Rongkun hesitantly provided the data, "26.7 million ounces, now worth 630 million."

When this number came out, Zhuang Qingquan's heart sank.

630 million?

Given the abnormal transactions, another 135 million is needed to cover the 26.7 million ounces of abnormal gold futures.

But now Henglong Bank only had 60 million Hong Kong dollars!

The bank's financial chain was short by 73.5 million.

Moreover, in addition to these abnormal gold futures contracts, Henglong Bank still held over 80,000, nearly 90,000 ounces of gold futures contracts for other clients, which would be impossible to handle if they came for delivery.

For a moment, the office fell into silence. Zhuang Rongkun lowered his head in shame, feeling intense anger.

"A-Kun, are you sure the abnormal gold futures volume is only 26.7 million ounces?"

After a period of silence, Zhuang Qingquan looked sternly at his younger brother and asked again.

Zhuang Rongkun nodded firmly, "Yes, when the problem first arose, I had Zhao Quanhao check. According to the prices at that time, buyers had purchased 300 million Hong Kong dollars' worth of gold futures, but now it has risen to 620 million Hong Kong dollars."

Zhuang Qingquan nodded and furrowed his brow, muttering to himself, "I'm worried the enemy might have more tricks up their sleeves. Otherwise, we could borrow 200 million Hong Kong dollars to cover the gap. Even if we still fall short of over 100 million, we could complete the delivery."

As for refusing delivery, neither Zhuang Rongkun nor Zhuang Qingquan had considered it, or if they did, they didn't dare to.

Perhaps the hidden enemy was waiting for them to refuse delivery, intending to escalate the situation. If news got out that Henglong Bank couldn't pay, it would be disastrous—a single mistake could lead to a deep abyss.

Of course, if they had known earlier that the enemy held such a large volume of gold futures, Zhuang Qingquan could have refused to redeem them. Even if a run on the bank occurred, the over 500 million cash could have quelled the storm.

Facing one opponent versus a large number of clients, the difference was significant.

No one expected the enemy to be so cunning, slowly cutting away at their resources. By the time they realized and investigated the situation, it was too late, and the money had already been redeemed.

Since the major losses had already occurred, it wasn't worth risking the remaining small portion.

It could be said that Liu Tianci had accurately gauged their psychological state.

"Elder brother, it shouldn't be possible. Only Zhao Quanhao and I knew about the failure to cover the London gold futures contract. Given the magnitude of the funds involved, it was supposed to be a top banking secret. Outsiders couldn't have known."

"I wouldn't have told anyone, and I haven't been drunk. As for Zhao Quanhao, he shouldn't be involved. I haven't noticed anything unusual about him."

Zhuang Rongkun frowned, truly puzzled about where the problem lay.

Zhuang Qingquan looked at his distressed younger brother and said, "Forget it. It's pointless to think about it now. The priority is to deal with the situation."

"The best way now is to quickly find a peer to borrow money, borrowing more to be safe."

"I'll stay here for a while and not return for the time being. If any situation arises, we can discuss it."

"Alright, I'll go immediately."

After discussing, Zhuang Rongkun immediately set off to borrow funds from Standard Chartered Bank.

He wasn't planning to go to HSBC or Hang Seng Bank, as the funds for the gold futures settlements in the past two days had all been deposited into HSBC accounts. This meant over 400 million Hong Kong dollars had flowed from Henglong Bank to HSBC.

Such a large inflow in a short time would surely attract the attention of HSBC's senior executive, Shen Bi. If he went to HSBC to borrow money, it would signal to them that Henglong Bank was in trouble, and HSBC would definitely not lend any money.

As for Hang Seng Bank, its largest shareholder is HSBC, so information is shared. It would be difficult to borrow money from Hang Seng Bank and might expose Henglong Bank's weakness.

In Hong Kong, there are only a few large banks. Banks like Far East Bank and Bank of China are slightly weaker. Borrowing large amounts of money from them is time-consuming and laborious, not the first choice.

Thus, Standard Chartered Bank became the best option.

As Zhuang Rongkun went to Standard Chartered Bank, another customer came in to settle gold futures. Zhao Quanhao used all his efforts to delay the process but ultimately had to agree to the delivery step by step.

At the Jiuding Bank building not far from Henglong Bank, Liu Tianci and Xia Yu stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, chatting and laughing.

"Chairman, according to the reports from our people, Henglong Bank is almost at its limit, and the funds are running out."

"But we still have about 130 million worth of gold futures contracts to settle. Henglong Bank probably can't cover it."

Liu Tianci said with a light smile.

Xia Yu smiled slightly and said, "Zhuang Rongkun managed to sell the London gold contracts all at once and raise over 400 million Hong Kong dollars. That's already quite an achievement. It's strange if he can cover all the contracts."

"What about Jia Hua Bank? How's the situation there?"

Xia Yu asked again.

"Jia Hua Bank is similar. We've settled 360 million Hong Kong dollars worth of gold futures contracts, with 60 million remaining. It's almost time to take action."

Liu Tianci said with a smile.

"Knock, knock!"

At that moment, a knock on the door suddenly sounded.

The two stopped talking. Liu Tianci turned around and said, "Come in."

The door opened, and a subordinate entered, respectfully greeting, "Hello, Chairman. Hello, General Manager!"

Seeing it was the subordinate assigned to keep watch, Liu Tianci became alert and immediately asked, "What did you find?"

The subordinate immediately replied, "I saw Zhuang Rongkun leave and followed his car. He went into Standard Chartered Bank, so I rushed back to report."

Upon hearing this, Liu Tianci and Xia Yu both smiled.

Henglong Bank couldn't hold on any longer; it was almost time to take action!