Chapter 227 Bankruptcy
Luzon.
Manila.
The headquarters of the Asian Development Bank is located here. Even though the relationship between Luzon and America has become much colder in the past two years, the ADB headquarters still has no intention of moving.
At this time, the President of the Asian Development Bank, Masatsugu Asakawa, was having a special meeting with the President of Manila Bank, Philip Lopez.
Philip put down the coffee in his hand and asked with a smile: "Mr. Asakawa, I won't be polite. I wonder if you are interested in selling the Ceylon foreign debt in your hands?"
"What? Mr. Lopez, doesn't he know the current situation?" Asakawa Masashi asked in surprise.
"I want to take a gamble," Philip replied without blinking.
"ADB holds a total of 6.7 billion in Ceylon foreign debt..."
But Philip interrupted him and said, "Add the 10% held by the major Japanese financial groups, and name a price!"
Asakawa Masashi narrowed his eyes slightly: "That's 11.9 billion US dollars. If you can come up with 11.9 billion US dollars..."
"Mr. Asakawa, do you think I'm a fool? Ceylon is bankrupt, and it may not be able to pay back in the next 10 years. The other party may even refuse to pay. Just tell me a sincere price!" Philip looked at the other party very directly.
Masatsugu Asakawa thought about it and realized that Ceylon's foreign debt was indeed difficult to collect and had been going on for too long. Once the exchange rate changed , it would not necessarily be a good thing for the Asian Development Bank and the major Japanese financial groups.
"I need to discuss this with the board of directors and the creditors in Japan. We will give Mr. Philip a reply the day after tomorrow."
Phillip smiled and shook his head: "It's okay, you guys can talk slowly, but my patience is limited. Maybe in a few days, it won't be this price anymore."
In response, Masatsugu Asakawa just put on a professional fake smile and said, "I can't make a decision on this matter. In fact, I also hope to cooperate with Manila Bank."
"Then I will wait for good news."
Looking at Philip Lopez's back getting farther and farther away, Masashi Asakawa put away his smile and his eyes flashed with thought.
He was somewhat puzzled as to the intentions of the Manila Bank and the Lopez family.
However, since he couldn't figure it out, he didn't continue to dwell on it. Instead, he picked up the phone and called Japan first to explain the situation to several behind-the-scenes bosses of the Japanese consortium.
The next step is to convene the ADB board of directors.
The shares of ADB are very complex, yet also very simple. Just look at the top three shareholders: Japan 15.6%, America 15.6%, and China 6.44%.
Therefore, convening a board meeting is actually a game between the top three shareholders.
Masatsugu Asakawa, Jim Benjamin, Yu-Chin Kuo, Lee Kwang-ming of Sing Tao, and Park Hyung-chul of South Korea held a video conference .
After hearing what Asakawa Masashi said, everyone fell into deep thought.
Jim in San Francisco picked up the coffee and pretended to taste it while thinking quickly in his mind.
In the current composition of Ceylon's foreign debt, the Asian Development Bank is apparently the largest creditor, accounting for 13%, followed by the Japanese consortium with 10%, the Bank of China with 10%, the World Bank with 9%, India with 2%, and other countries with 9%.
The remaining 47% is sovereign foreign debt, which is basically held by European and American financial institutions, of which Wall Street financial groups account for about 26%, followed by British financial institutions with 11%, French financial institutions with 6%, and the remaining 4% is divided among other small European financial institutions.
Ceylon's core foreign debt is actually the 47% sovereign foreign debt, because this part is the real usury.
Jim was very aware of Ceylon's foreign debt problem. He put down his coffee and said, "Manila Bank wants to buy these foreign debts at a low price? I need to think about it. What does the Japanese side think?"
Asakawa Masashi smiled and replied, "We also need to think about it for a while."
The Asian Development Bank was originally a special product of America using Japan's cover to form alliances in the Asian region. As a lackey, Masatsugu Asakawa is very clear about his position, and everything he does is just the task of his master.
Now that Jim hasn't made the final decision, he naturally won't express his opinion.
The directors of Sing Tao and Nam Koryo were equally ambiguous.
In this regard, Guo Yujin could only follow the crowd and wait and see.
This was at the same time as the video conference of the ADB Board of Directors.
As Ceylon has declared bankruptcy, financial institutions holding Ceylon's sovereign foreign debt are now somewhat anxious.
Although national-level bankruptcy is different from corporate bankruptcy and there is no way to conduct bankruptcy liquidation, entering bankruptcy protection means that debts are frozen.
The so-called debt freeze means that you cannot pay back the money now, and you will consider paying it back when you have money.
International financial institutions need to make money. If Ceylon remains bankrupt for a long time, it means that the debt will not be repaid for a long time and may even become a bad debt.
These financial institutions now face two choices.
One is to cut losses and leave. Recently, Manila Bank has been purchasing Ceylon's sovereign foreign debt at a low price in the international financial market, and this foreign debt can be sold to Manila Bank.
Another option is to continue to hold on and wait for Ceylon to be released from bankruptcy protection .
However, on October 15, the secret escape of the brothers Ma Xing and Xia to Dubai caused further chaos in Ceylon.
Immediately afterwards, the Solomon family and the Puda family attacked each other, and a brutal fight broke out. Finally, several leaders of the Puda family fled to the Maple Leaf Kingdom in panic.
The victorious Solomon family also suffered heavy losses at this time.
Several leaders of the Solomon family died tragically in this turmoil, leaving only the 19-year-old daughter of the head of the family, who married the rising supernova of the Eastern Province, Dis Jammit, in a flash marriage.
On the surface, Dis seems to be a puppet supported by the Solomon family, but in fact he is the big crocodile who has turned the tables.
In order to ensure the stability of his position, Dis continued to maintain bankruptcy protection and then announced the relocation of the capital from Colombo to the inland central province of Gem City.
This series of outrageous operations left the outside world completely confused.
But even more troublesome things "appeared". Food reserves in various parts of Ceylon were almost exhausted, and gas, fuel, daily necessities and medical supplies were in short supply.
Diess simply played rogue and announced that the bankruptcy status would be extended to 2030.
As soon as this news came out.
Those financial institutions holding Ceylon's sovereign foreign debt suffered heavy losses, and Manila Bank's purchase price was reduced to about 20% of the original price.
That is, the Bank of Manila was only willing to pay US$5 billion to acquire Ceylon's US$25 billion sovereign foreign debt.
Although many of Ceylon's foreign debts held by institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the World Bank, Japan and the Bank of China are low-interest or even interest-free loans, if Ceylon fails to repay them for a long time, it will also affect its performance.
It’s a pity that Dis is now like a dead pig that is not afraid of boiling water. It looks like you can do whatever you want to him, because he has no money anyway.
This has led Manila banks to continuously lower the purchase price of Ceylon's sovereign foreign debt.
Many financial institutions that felt they could no longer sustain the situation had to cut their losses and leave the market.
But Philip, the head of Manila Bank, is well aware that most of the institutions that are now cutting their losses are small financial institutions.
Currently, Manila banks acquire only 7.6% of sovereign external debt.
Wall Street financial groups, British financial institutions, and the French Bank of BNP Paribas all chose to continue holding. Apparently, some people did not want Manila Bank to gain control over Ceylon's foreign debt.
