"Didn't you fall out with Soros and his group by attacking the Hong Kong stock market before withdrawing halfway?"
Xiang Feng and Buck bowed their heads simultaneously. "In the world of capital, there are no permanent enemies."
Regardless of the relationship between Asian investment banks and Soros, he was even more pleased after learning that Soros was on a buying spree in Indonesia.
He originally left behind this $2 billion in Indonesian rupiah to deal with Soros, but unexpectedly it has come in handy now, and the other party has taken the bait.
"Does Soros know that I am the holder of this $2 billion Indonesian rupiah?" Chen Dong asked.
Buck shook his head. "Customers don't need to know who each other is. As long as the prices can be freely matched, we can act as the third-party platform to ensure the transaction goes smoothly."
Chen Dong silently took a sip of tea, a sly glint in his eyes.
“I can sell this money to him, but I want to know how much he can offer?”
Buck quickly replied, "The current exchange rate in the spot market is 1:3600."
"If we want all of the $2 billion, it will probably be cheaper than the market price."
“No,” Chen Dong said slowly, his eyes firm, “Based on the market price at the time of the transaction, there is no room for negotiation if it is 300 points higher.”
“Two billion dollars, even someone like Soros has to consider market exchange rate fluctuations.” Buck couldn’t help but try to negotiate.
"He's your client, not mine," Chen Dong said coldly. "These are the terms. Whether or not the deal goes through depends on how urgent your big client's needs are."
Buck fell silent. If he could complete the deal as soon as possible, he could get a substantial kickback. Naturally, he hoped the deal would be completed quickly, but the big client wanted to lower the price as much as possible.
"By the way, the Federal Reserve and the International Monetary Fund are frequently in contact with Indonesian leaders. In the past few days, there have been reports in international news that Indonesia is about to accept economic aid from the Federal Reserve and the International Monetary Fund."
Chen Dong reminded him, "The exchange rate of the Indonesian Rupiah to the US dollar is rising rapidly, and it may exceed its current peak at any time."
“If he doesn’t complete the transaction soon, the price of my Indonesian Rupiah may rise further.”
Buck gritted his teeth. "I need to communicate with the client again."
“Okay.” Chen Dong readily agreed, “If you’ve reached an agreement, you can come directly to my office at Longteng headquarters to discuss the details of the transaction.”
"Please."
Chen Dong pointed bluntly to the door of the private room. Buck gave a stiff smile, nodded to Feng, and then left.
“He’s just a manager, why make things difficult for him?” Xiang Feng said.
Upon hearing this, Chen Dong felt extremely wronged. "When did I make things difficult for him? It's business! Business is all about bargaining."
"I can't expect you to give every person you bring along a discount."
"Alright," Xiang Feng interrupted his complaints. "Let's get down to business. Soros has been secretly having Buck go on a buying spree, which means he's already starting to establish a presence in the Indonesian market. Do you have any strategies to deal with this?"
Chen Dong's battlefield was not in the Indonesian financial market, so there was no strategy to speak of. He casually told Xiang Feng, "When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll dam it."
"I'm quite curious, since your Asian investment bank has been cooperating with HSBC for many years, why didn't you go through HSBC this time when Buck wanted to buy Indonesian Rupiah, instead of using such a primitive method of contacting major clients one by one?"
Xiang Feng pressed his lips together and sighed again, "At the beginning of the month, there were many reports from HSBC's branches in Southeast Asia about lending large sums of money to international speculators."
"After a series of maneuvers, HSBC's public relations department managed to keep the news within Southeast Asia and prevent it from spreading further."
Chen Dong sensed a hidden meaning in those words. The "further places" he was referring to were nothing more than the Hong Kong financial market, where the stock market had recently experienced large-scale turmoil, as well as South Korea and Japan.
"You mean, during the Hong Kong financial crisis, HSBC lent large sums of money to international speculators?"
Xiang Feng shook his head and poured Chen Dong a glass of red wine. "It's just a rumor."
"However, the manager I just introduced to you, Mr. Buck, once told me that he had inside information that HSBC... especially its Southeast Asian branches, are in a particularly chaotic state."
The shady dealings at HSBC did not surprise Chen Dong.
Although HSBC originated in Hong Kong, it was the mouthpiece of the colonial government. Throughout its long history of making its fortune, there was nothing it wouldn't do, such as money laundering, tax evasion, and financing violent elements.
If this news is true, then the large sum of money that HSBC lent to international speculators must be closely related to Soros's hedge fund.
In other words, if this matter escalates, it will definitely implicate Soros.
Chen Dong squinted. "Is it because Soros has concerns about HSBC's prospects that he chose to have Barker of Asian Investment Bank help him buy Indonesian Rupiah?"
Xiang Feng laughed it off, saying, "Actually, it's not that complicated. After all, international investment banks like HSBC charge very high fees for foreign exchange transactions."
"However, if the transaction is entrusted to the manager of the investment banking department, the intermediate transaction links can be eliminated, and the buyer can trade directly with the foreign exchange holder, saving the intermediate handling fees and margin."
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