Chapter 1180: First Hunting Target

These six banks can be divided into two categories.

The first category is the two medium-sized banks, the Hokkaido Takushoku Bank and the Shizuoka Bank.

Hokkaido Takushoku Bank is the largest bank in the Hokkaido region, with total assets of more than 12.142 billion US dollars. Last year, it ranked 43rd among all banks in the island country, just behind Chiba Bank.

Shizuoka Bank, on the other hand, is the largest bank in Shizuoka Prefecture, with total assets of more than 9.34 billion US dollars. Last year, it ranked 58th in the island country's banking industry.

The second tier, from largest to smallest, are the North Country Bank, Hokkaido Bank, Fukushima Bank and Nagano Bank. They are all small banks in the island country, ranking just outside the top 100.

The strongest North Country Bank has total assets of just over 4.331 billion U.S. dollars and ranked 104th last year.

The weakest Nagano Bank has total assets of just over 2.512 billion U.S. dollars and ranked 131st last year.

Even if all six banks were acquired and integrated, they would barely reach the size of the 20th-ranked Kyowa Bank.

If the Chiba Bank were added, the combined assets would be similar to those of the 11th-ranked Shikoku Long-Term Credit Bank, but still 7 to 8 billion US dollars short of the 10th-ranked Tokai Bank.

Apart from the difference in asset size, the most important thing is that the companies served by these banks are all small and medium-sized enterprises in various regions. Even if they are integrated, their influence is still far inferior to that of the large island banks.

If these banks are the centre of everything, they can only pull together a bunch of small fry, and they can easily be crushed by the six major island conglomerates. Even if they face the banks of the local conglomerates behind the six major conglomerates, they will be beaten up.

So it seems that the current bank layout is definitely not working, and plans must be made on this basis!

Although he had thought about it, he had no intention of letting Liu Tianci do it again. He would take action himself once he arrived on the island.

After looking at the situation in the banking industry, Xia Yu once again picked up the situation report submitted by Wang Qi.

Compared to Liu Tianci's report, Wang Qi's report was even simpler, as it only had two parts.

The first part was undoubtedly the situation of the island country branch of Jiuding Securities.

Although the island country branch of Jiuding Securities had only been in existence for a short period of time, trading was very active, and Wang Qi had continuously injected funds, so in terms of scale, it could be considered one of the large securities companies in the island country.

Although it has just barely reached the threshold of being considered a large securities company in the island country.

Currently, the scale of the stock and bond assets held by Jiuding Securities has reached more than 1.27 trillion yen, which is equivalent to more than 5.37 billion US dollars.

Of course, this asset has been amplified through financial leverage, and if it were just its own assets, it would not be as much.

The second part is the only joint venture company, Jiuding Yonghe Securities.

This company was established four years ago as a joint venture between Jiuding Securities and Kazuya Fukuhara's Eiwa Fund. Each party holds a 50% stake, with Jiuding Securities taking the lead in operations and Kazuya Fukuhara providing the resources of the Sanwa Group.

With Kazuya Fukuhara damaging the interests of the Sanwa Group for his own gain, Jiuding Eiwa Securities has also developed rapidly. Although it is not as good as Jiuding Securities, it is also quite well-known in the island's capital markets and is a medium-sized securities company.

The scale of the bills and bond assets held by Jiuding Yonghe Securities reached 557.7 billion yen, which is more than 2.48 billion US dollars when converted to US dollars at the current exchange rate.

Apart from these circumstances, the detailed assets of the two securities companies are not listed because he does not need them for the time being.

'The situation is summarized well, and it's all I need.'

After putting down Wang Qi's report, Xia Yu commented with a smile, and Liu Tianci and Wang Qi couldn't help but smile in relief.

Xia Yu looked at the two men and said, 'This year, my focus will be on the island country. There will be many opportunities in the future. At present, the operations of Jiuding Bank and Jiuding Securities in the island country are far from meeting my needs.'

'Let's talk about the bank first.'

'Tianci, divest all of the shares of Chiba Bank and the other six companies, and dispose of their shares so that they are no longer connected to Jiuding Bank.'

'Your focus should be on continuing to grow Jiuding Bank in the island country. Thirty-six branches are still too few. You must ensure that there is a branch in every county. As for the ten largest cities, there must be at least three branches in each city. At the same time, efforts should be made to increase deposit-taking and lending.'

'However, it is important to note that we should cooperate more with large companies that are not core enterprises of the island country's five major consortia. It doesn't matter if the interest rate is low, understand?'

Upon hearing this, Liu Tianci immediately asked, 'Chairman, isn't there a total of six consortia on the island? Which one is left for us to cooperate with?'

Xia Yu immediately said, 'This is what I wanted to tell you. Jiuding Bank needs to establish a deep cooperative relationship with the core enterprises of the Sanhe consortium. Whether or not there is a flow of money is secondary. The most important thing is to lend money to these enterprises and establish a debt relationship.'

'The total assets of Sanwa Bank, the core of the Sanwa consortium, are less than 75 billion US dollars, and the other Toyo Trust Bank is even less worth mentioning. Relying on these two banks alone, it is definitely impossible to support the companies of the Sanwa consortium. This is our opportunity.'

'On the premise of doing this well, if there is enough capital, then focus on cooperating with influential families in the Sanwa consortium, and provide loans to other enterprises of these families to establish friendly cooperative relationships.'

'Understand?'

Liu Tianci already had a vague idea of the chairman's intentions. He suppressed his shock and said solemnly, 'Chairman, don't worry, I know what to do. After I go back, in addition to doing what you said, I will also mobilise another 3 billion US dollars to enter the island country to speed up expansion.'

Xia Yu looked approvingly and said softly, 'Okay, you can handle the rest yourself, as long as you can meet my requirements.'

Then Xia Yu looked at Wang Qi, who was sitting upright, and ordered, 'Wang Qi, the island's Jiuding Securities Company must continue to grow. I can tell you straight that in the next eight or nine years, the island's stock market will at least quadruple in value. With Jiuding Securities' current strength, it won't be able to reap much profit.'

'Although the Hong Kong stock market has entered a formal stage, the market is still too small. And Jiuding Securities is approaching its ceiling, so it would be better to focus more capital on the island.'

'In addition, I plan to acquire Nomura Securities in the island country.'

'Nomura Securities is one of the core enterprises of the Sanwa consortium, but it is very independent. Sanwa Bank only holds a 5.1% stake, and with Sanwa Bank's strength, it is impossible to help Nomura Securities too much.'

'However, Nomura Securities is at least one of the top ten securities companies in the island country, and it also has the unofficial largest Nomura Research Institute in the island country, with a gathering of elites, which is not so easy to defeat.'

'Nomura Securities also has a branch in Hong Kong, and you must have dealt with it before, so you should know Nomura Securities' strength.'

'Although it is a tough nut to crack, if you can defeat Nomura Securities, it will be enough to make Jiuding Securities even more famous. With this halo, you can then seize the opportunity to raise funds without restraint.'

'This time, you will go to the island country with me, and you will be in charge. I will be there in person, and you can also take this opportunity to practice. The Hong Kong capital market is currently just a small pond. You are still young, and staying here all the time will not be conducive to your growth.'

Wang Qi nodded emphatically in response, 'Chairman, thank you for your cultivation!'

Xia Yu revealed a smile, 'You are my right arm. If I don't cultivate you, then who will I cultivate?'

Wang Qi looked at Xia Yu gratefully, his heart full of emotion.

'You are leaving for the time being, and someone will have to take charge of the company in the interim. Does Yuan Tianfan have the ability to do this?'

Facing Xia Yu's inquiry, Wang Qi said without hesitation, 'Chairman, I have often brought Tianfan with me over the past few years. His talent is the strongest of all the employees I have ever seen, and there are not many people in Xiangjiang who can rival him. He is now very familiar with all aspects of the company.'

'I think he is capable of taking on the job!'

Xia Yu nodded with a smile, 'As long as he is available, he is the one. This is the perfect opportunity to give him a good workout.'

'After you go back, have a good talk with him, and the group will immediately issue the appointment document.'

'I'll give you two days to hand things over and go to the island with me on the seventh.'

'Yes!'

Wang Qi answered decisively.

'Do you two have any more questions?'

'If not, go back...'