Chapter 1383: A domineering counterattack

Early in the morning of November 16th.

Almost every newspaper across the United States reported negative news related to Wells Fargo.

This time, there was no need to fabricate rumors.

The headlines in major newspapers were 'Wells Fargo branches in many places encounter a crisis of bank runs', 'depositors queued overnight at Wells Fargo ATMs to withdraw their money', 'Wells Fargo's ATM backup deposits were emptied, and angry depositors smashed the ATMs in anger', etc.

These news reports were true, and many media outlets had taken photos.

The previous content could be ignored.

These reports alone were enough to cause uninformed readers to rush to Wells Fargo to withdraw their money.

As a result, before work had even started, there were already long queues outside Wells Fargo branches all over the United States.

And as soon as work started, all the Wells Fargo branches were packed, and the local American police had to go to the scene to maintain order.

If this sudden crisis is not handled properly, then even if Wells Fargo's capital chain is really in trouble, it will be made to look like it is.

After receiving reports from all over the place,

Wells Fargo President J. Michael Simmons was furious.

If this dragged on, even if the crisis was eventually resolved, the bank would still lose deposits!

So at 8:30 a.m., a grand press conference was held at Wells Fargo headquarters.

Hundreds of media outlets, including newspapers, radio stations and television stations, turned up.

Of course, the media outlets that were either owned by the conglomerate or were allies were given the best seats.

'Da da da...'

When Germain Simmons walked out from the back with a stern face, the originally noisy press conference came to a sudden silence, and then erupted into even louder discussion.

'Quiet~'

'Please remain quiet and maintain order, the press conference will begin shortly~'

Germain Simmons' secretary called out loudly from the stage, and the security guards and staff below also did their best to maintain order.

'Everyone be quiet, I am Wells Fargo President, Alan Simmons, and I would like to thank all of you for coming!'

'In order not to waste your valuable time, please keep quiet.'

After Alan Simmons sat down, he turned on the microphone directly and spoke louder to drown out the noise.

Sure enough, the effect was immediate.

Armand Simmons nodded slightly and continued, 'The press conference is officially beginning, and I will...'

This press conference was broadcast live by several major national television news networks.

In Pennsylvania, Xia Yu was with Cindy, watching the press conference on CNN.

Cindy knew that Wells Fargo was an ally that her husband Xia Yu had recruited for the Mellon family, and that the reason for this crisis was also because it had spent tens of billions of dollars to help the family.

Therefore, when the Mellon family discussed this matter among themselves, Cindy was also worried about Wells Fargo and even asked Xia Yu about the situation.

Although Xia Yu told her that everything was fine, the couple were united in their hearts, and she still felt that there was a raging fire of anger deep within her husband's heart yesterday.

'Damn the Cleveland Consortium!'

'They plotted against our family and now they are retaliating against the Polaris Consortium.'

Cindy, who was holding onto Xia Yu's arm, suddenly muttered angrily.

Xia Yu, who was watching TV, tilted his head slightly, kissed Cindy's forehead, and whispered, 'The Cleveland syndicate really deserves to die, but don't worry, just keep watching, Wells Fargo will get through the crisis.'

'Mmm!' Cindy nodded lightly, and continued to watch the TV.

On the TV screen, Wells Fargo CEO J. Michael Hayden looked murderous, his right elbow resting on the desk, his right hand held with four fingers, his index finger pointing diagonally at the sky, as he angrily explained the situation.

'On the morning of November 15, the Cleveland News, without any evidence, maliciously rumoured that our company had problems with its capital chain. This is an irresponsible reflection on the country and all its people, and it is a wanton trampling of the dignity of the law!'

'Wells Fargo, as the third largest bank in the United States, shoulders an important responsibility for the stability of the American financial system and has always served the whole society wholeheartedly. However, there are schemers who hope to bring Wells Fargo into crisis through despicable means!'

'Our company has filed a lawsuit against the Cleveland News and 23 other newspapers. I believe that the law will always stand on the side of justice!'

'Pop...'

After the strong attitude of Yalman Simmons was expressed, there was wild applause from the audience, and all the reporters were invigorated.

Wells Fargo has taken the initiative to make a big deal of this, and at least they won't run out of news topics for the next half month!

'Now we will begin the Q&A session!'

As soon as Yalman Simmons finished speaking, he raised his hand to signal for the reporters in the audience to ask questions.

The first opportunity, Yalman Simmons of course gave to the financial conglomerate CNN.

'Hello, President Yalman Simmons, the Cleveland News reported that Wells Fargo has spent tens of billions of dollars in the past half month. Is this true?'

After the reporter asked the question, Yalman Simmons immediately replied, 'We did spend tens of billions of dollars to invest in some companies, but this is normal business behaviour. We provide depositors with the highest interest rates in the United States, and maintaining a high turnover of funds is our way of doing business for the healthy development of the bank.'

'Wells Fargo's asset management department is responsible for generating income for the company and preserving the value of its funds.'

'The Cleveland News questioned the huge risks in our capital chain just because Wells Fargo has invested tens of billions of dollars abroad.'

'But they don't know that before this series of investments, our company's asset management department had already cleaned up some low-yield assets and returned tens of billions of dollars of funds in advance.'

'So this large-scale acquisition is just a very normal asset restructuring!'

'I would like to take this opportunity to urge all Wells Fargo depositors to continue to have confidence in us as always, and not to be misled by the malicious media. Withdrawing your deposits prematurely will cost you the interest you deserve.'

'Thank you for your answer, I am satisfied.'

The CNN reporter bowed slightly and sat down after he finished speaking.

Yalman Simmons immediately called on the next reporter, who was from USA Today, which had the largest circulation in the United States.

'President Arman Simmons, how can you prove that the capital chain of Wells Fargo Bank is not in trouble?'

Arman Simmons said confidently: 'This is a good question.'

'First of all, we have sufficient liquidity. We have invited officials from the Financial Services Authority to supervise and inspect our capital chain. The person sitting next to me is Mr Jerry Fister from the Financial Services Authority, and he can testify for us.'

'You can ask Mr Jerry Fist for more information later.'

As he spoke, Arman Simmons pointed his palm at Jerry Fist, who was standing next to him. The latter also stood up and bowed to the crowd.

As there was some commotion in the audience, Arman Simmons continued, 'In addition, we at Wells Fargo are strategic partners with Northern Trust, Mellon Financial Corporation, Toronto-Dominion Bank of Canada and Scotiabank of Canada.'

'Northern Trust Bank has a credit line of US$3 billion for us, Mellon Financial has a credit line of US$4 billion for us, and TD Bank Canada and Scotiabank each have a credit line of US$5 billion for us.'

'These four major banks have a combined credit line of US$17 billion for us, and we can obtain financial support from these four major banks at any time.'

'Representatives from all four banks are sitting on the stage today, and they can testify to our cooperative relationship.'

'Together with our existing stable of funds, can anyone tell me under what circumstances our capital chain would be in trouble?'

At the end of his speech, with his hands spread out, Arman Simmons' face was full of mockery, as if he were mocking the ignorance of the Cleveland News!

The reporters in the audience were shocked. They never imagined that Wells Fargo would have such a strong strength and cooperative relationship.

Almost all the journalists present believed what Yalman Simmons said.

...

Next, the questions continued, and officials from the financial regulatory authority and representatives from several major banks were all interviewed, confirming what Yalman Simmons had said, strongly criticising the sinister schemers, and calling on depositors to remain rational and calm.

The entire press conference was broadcast live on major news networks.

And Wells Fargo branches across the United States, which were all equipped with televisions, were also broadcasting the press conference.

As the depositors gathered in Wells Fargo branches across the country watched, they regained their senses and almost all of them gave up the idea of withdrawing their money. Many even cursed.

The question and answer session lasted more than half an hour before it ended.

Just when everyone thought the press conference was over,

Yalman Simmons announced something again.

Wells Fargo has always been on the path of orderly expansion.

This time, the reason why many depositors believed the rumours is largely because there have been frequent bankruptcies in the US banking industry in the past two years.

But Wells Fargo is different from those banks. It has a healthy cash flow and an excellent business model. It is the best bank in the United States.

To prove its strength, he will announce some development plans that have already been prepared in advance.

That is, Wells Fargo will launch acquisitions of some banks such as Cleveland Trust Company and Cleveland National City Bank!

When Yalman Simmons finished speaking, the press conference suddenly fell silent, and then all the reporters became excited again and wanted to ask questions again.

However, Yalman Simmons did not give them another chance and led everyone away from the podium.

In front of the TV, many people were shocked by Yalman Simmons's final domineering declaration.

Of course, some people's scalps tingled instantly.

For example, Douglas Master and others.