As the neon bubble expanded, the financial world gradually fell into a state of chaos.
Starting from 1985, there were the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries incident, the Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank financing incident, the Toyota Corporation incident, and the ongoing Onoue incident and Fuji Bank loan fraud incident.
Behind all this series, there seems to be the figure of the underworld flashing.
“According to the information we have found, the incident at Toyota Trading Company was done by the Sumiyoshi Group.
The first person to be involved in the Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank Shikamachi financing incident was the Sosoya. Because Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank was worried that shareholders would hold it accountable for the incident, it hired the Sosoya to ensure the smooth conduct of the shareholders' meeting.
The mastermind behind the recent Ito Man incident is likely to be the Yamaguchi-gumi.”
"Yamaguchi-gumi?" Shirakawa Kaede showed a puzzled look.
"Hai, it is said that Sumitomo Bank lost nearly 800 billion yen because of this incident."
The Ito Man incident is another financial scandal that occurred in 1990 and was just exposed by Nikkei News last month.
Ito Man Trading Co., Ltd. is affiliated with the Sumitomo Zaibatsu. Although it has not been completely acquired, the two companies have a close relationship.
Kawamura, the current president of Ito Man Trading Co., once served as a managing director of Sumitomo Bank and was also a close confidant of Sumitomo Bank Chairman Ichiro Isoda.
The Ito Man Trading Company, which he led, somehow hooked up with a man named Ito Hisanobu Mitsuaki.
Ito Hisanobu has a yakuza background. He is valued by Kawamura and holds an important position in Ito Mansho.
Using business connections, Ito persuaded Kawamura to invest in art and precious metals.
He claimed that these things were a safe investment as they maintained their value, and Kawamura followed his advice.
With Ito's help, Kawamura found the so-called galleries or artists and then purchased a large number of artworks .
In total, Ito Man Trading Company spent at least hundreds of billions of yen on these investments.
In addition, there are sightseeing tourism projects, golf course investments, etc. Kawamura has invested a total of nearly 800 billion yen.
Where did the money come from? Of course, it was a loan from Sumitomo Bank.
As a confidant of the chairman of Sumitomo Bank, it was very easy for Kawamura to use his connections to obtain loans.
However, a recent report by Nikkei News has put Ito Man Trading Co., Ltd. in the spotlight.
Nikkei News revealed that the certificates of authenticity of the so-called artworks that Ito Man bought at a high price were all forged.
The prices of these artworks have been increased by at least several times, and as for the tourist bases and golf courses, most of them are in an unfinished state.
If nothing unexpected happens, Ito Man's investments will basically be wasted, and the whereabouts of hundreds of billions of yen are unknown.
As its affiliated company, Ito Man's losses will most likely fall on Sumitomo Bank in the end.
As for the hundreds of billions that disappeared... ?
“Most of these funds that disappeared from the accounts flowed into the pockets of senior government officials through the Yakuza.
Officials from the former Nakasone Cabinet and the current Ministry of Finance are involved.
As for Ito Shouyong, he is from the Yamaguchi-gumi."
As he spoke, Ota handed over another set of photos, and Shirakawa Kaede took a quick look at them.
Basically, they were scenes of meetings between government officials, corporate executives, and yakuza, and Shirakawa Feng recognized most of the faces.
Well, Baichuan Feng expected that few of these people had clean butts.
However, the situation of almost total annihilation of the army was still far beyond his expectations.
Can Sumitomo recover the 800 billion yen it lost?
Don't even think about it, the money has already been divided up between the black and white worlds.
Even if Sumitomo Bank knew who was behind the plot, it would most likely have to bear the loss in silence.
Because in addition to the recent Ito Man incident, the Odani Mitsuhiro incident is also likely to be related to Sumitomo Bank.
Odani Mitsuhiro's insider trading in the stock market occurred almost at the same time as the Ito Man incident.
He manipulated listed companies through a combination of soft and hard tactics, and then bribed senior government officials with insider information.
If the president of a company did not obey him, Odani would even threaten to hire a professional killer to kill the other party.
Not only has he amassed a huge amount of wealth over the years, but he has also wanted to confront the Ministry of Finance head-on.
However, now that the truth has been revealed, Xiao Gu is basically under house arrest and investigation.
As a result, senior executives of the two banks were forced to resign and dozens of officials from the Ministry of Environment were investigated.
Although the case has not yet been sentenced, it is clear that their final outcomes were not good.
The reason why Mitsuhiro Otani was able to manipulate the stock market was because he had the support of Sumitomo Bank.
Although Sumitomo Bank avoided answering questions about the source of Otani's funds.
However, Otani once publicly told the media, "Sumitomo Bank is the home of my soul." His statements have long exposed the relationship between the two.
Because it is dealing with the Ito Man incident and the Odani incident at the same time, Sumitomo Bank in a state of disarray.
The irony is that both the Ito Man incident and the Otani incident had the Yakuza behind them.
The difference is that in the Ito incident, Sumitomo Bank was the victim, but in the Otani incident, Sumitomo Bank became the perpetrator.
Therefore, faced with the hundreds of billions of yen that were stolen, Sumitomo Bank will most likely be left speechless and unable to express its grievances.
This is the current underworld in Japan. Even in the chaos, they dare to take action against traditional chaebols.
Of course, only underworld bosses like the Yamaguchi-gumi dare to take action against the chaebols, and they only dare to target the relatively weaker Sumitomo among the chaebols.
Among the traditional chaebols, there are almost no gangsters who dare to covet Mitsui and Mitsubishi. Even the government has to weigh the power of these two behemoths.
As for the next three conglomerates, they are now in chaos.
Japan's six major conglomerates are also divided into upper and lower groups. The chaebols usually referred to generally refer to the top three: Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Sumitomo.
They also retain the characteristics of traditional chaebols and can be considered a true family business.
Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji and Sanwa can only be called conglomerates. They have formed a powerful group organization through circular cross-holdings.
But there is no doubt that the three conglomerates are much less experienced than the three chaebols.
In terms of consortium management, they are also much more open than chaebols and can give professional managers greater power.
However, it is precisely because of this that these conglomerates are more vulnerable to invasion by external forces.
The current loan fraud carried out by Fuji Bank, the transaction between Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank and Sosoya, the joint venture between Toyo Shinkin Bank and Onoue under Sanwa Bank to sew up loans from Industrial Bank, etc.
What is happening now is the best proof of the chaos within the consortium.
It can be said that at present, at least in the financial world, the damage that the Yakuza has brought to the chaebols and conglomerates is already shocking enough.
The reason why the Yakuza can stir up the financial market, in addition to the support of the political power behind it, greed is also the most direct reason.
In the 1960s and 1970s, although the Yakuza were also rampant, it was the golden age of the neon manufacturing industry.
Most businesses can achieve profitability as long as they operate in a safe and orderly manner.
After all, slogans like "a nation built on trade", "a nation built on industry" and "a nation built on electronics" are not shouted in vain. If everyone can make money, there will naturally be peace.
However, by the 1980s, as the yen appreciated and the bubble expanded, the golden age of the company was gone forever .
In order to ensure profitability, many physical manufacturing industries entrust their funds to banks or securities companies, asking them to help them achieve various financial management profits in the financial market.
This is the origin of special business funds, and the special business funds entrusted by these enterprises to the securities industry range from tens of billions to hundreds of billions.
It was also from this time that the Japanese yen seemed to simply become a set of numbers.
The profits of several billion yen and tens of billions of yen in the past cannot be compared with the current operating special funds of hundreds of billions of yen.
Banks and securities firms manipulate thousands or trillions of funds. How do their employees stay calm?
How can the tens of millions or hundreds of millions of profits earned by the underworld through fighting and killing be compared with the hundreds of billions of funds involved in the financial market?
Faced with these huge amounts of money, everyone would be tempted.
As a result, the illegal operations of bank insiders and the infiltration of the underworld forces in various ways can be seen almost everywhere.
So, as a member of the banking industry, isn't there any gangster who wants to take over Kitato Bank?
It’s not that there isn’t any, but they just don’t know where to start.
In 1985, Shirakawa Kaede tried his best to suppress Kitato Bank from getting involved in the real estate and special financial markets.
He knew that these things were either bankrupt or gray transactions.
Once the Ministry of Finance holds him accountable, Arai Yu might even have to work on a sewing machine.
So for the sake of safety, Baichuan Feng would rather earn less than take meaningless risks.
Therefore, neither Jidao nor those loan scammers have any good solution for the poorly developed Beidu Bank.
However, Kitato Bank's participation in several large-scale acquisitions by Shirakawa Holdings has proven its strong financial strength.
The greedy Jidao, when one plan fails, comes up with another.
Since Kitato Bank can't do anything, let's try to find a way through Shirakawa Electric.
Don't underestimate people's desire for wealth. They will do anything to achieve their goals.
As for the Shirakawa Zaibatsu? What a joke. They dared to take action against big financial groups like Sumitomo and Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank. What could a new group force fear?
Now Baichuan Feng has already felt the vague gazes surrounding Baichuan Holdings.
Unexpectedly, even though we had entered the 1990s and Shirakawa Holdings was already strong enough, it still attracted the covetousness of others.
It seems that the bubble era is far from an era in which one can completely isolate oneself from it by trying hard to reduce participation.
Madness is not only happening among the people, there is also plenty of absurdity happening in the business and political circles.
"Ota, let's not talk about the General Association House first. In view of the activities of the Yakuza, let's make more preparations."
After reading the information in his hand, Baichuan Feng was shocked by the assassinations and gunfights that took place one after another.
These contents will never appear in news reports because they are inappropriate.
"Mr. Shirakawa, what do you mean..." Ota's expression suddenly became extremely serious.
Baichuan Feng nodded, "Just in case."
Ota and Shirakawa Kaede checked each other's gazes, then nodded calmly.
Have we finally come to this? But the environment in Japan has become increasingly turbulent recently.
The headquarters, which was sheltered by the Yamaguchi-gumi and the Sumiyoshi-kai, was the first to come.
Our ancestors said it well: one strike is the first blow to prevent a hundred blows from coming.
…
As Arai Yu had previously introduced to Shirakawa Kaede, June is the date when Japanese listed companies hold shareholders' meetings intensively.
Most companies hold their conferences on this day in the middle of the month, and Shirakawa Electric does the same as usual.
Because the members participating in the shareholders' meeting may come from all walks of life, major companies attach great importance to the shareholders' meeting in order to maintain their own image.
Not only should we give various small gifts to the participants, but if there are journalists coming to interview us, we should also entertain them well.
Any news or information that is unfavorable to the company must never be published in the newspaper.
Otherwise, the stock price will fall and negative news will be surrounding the company, which will cause huge headaches for the operators.
Because of this relationship, the association house has the soil to survive.
Shirakawa Electric's shareholders' meeting this year will still be held at the Imperial Hotel as usual.
Because of its huge scale, according to calculations based on previous years, the number of people attending Shirakawa Electric's shareholders' meeting is likely to reach thousands or even tens of thousands.
Therefore, ordinary venues are difficult to meet the requirements, and we can only choose clubs or hotels with huge auditoriums.
During the shareholders' meeting, well-known companies like Shirakawa Electric will even be interviewed by reporters.
After all, the company has more than 100,000 employees, and Shirakawa Electric alone plays a vital role in Neon.
NHK, Fuji TV and TV Asahi have produced more than one special program targeting such super-large enterprises.
So it would not be strange if a reporter entered the shareholders' meeting of Shirakawa Electric.
However, this year is different from the past. Starting from the beginning of June, various rumors about Shirakawa Electric began to gradually appear in the market.
For example, a business is facing operational difficulties and reported a huge loss in this quarter’s financial report.
There are senior executives within Shirakawa Electric who abuse their subordinates and use various unspoken rules in the workplace.
There is also data falsification, arbitrary dismissal of employees, etc.
What's worse, there are interviews with former employees of Shirakawa Electric in some magazines and tabloids.
Most of the content was so-called inside information. These newspapers, under the guise of revealing secrets, made exaggerated reports on Shirakawa Electric.
Not to mention that the current stock market is already turbulent, these seemingly true reports did cause Shirakawa Electric's stock price to drop by several hundred yen.
However, because some people in the market were quietly buying up Shirakawa Electric's stocks, and because of its reputation, the stock price fell for a long time before stabilizing again.
But no matter what, these rumors are definitely not a good thing for Shirakawa Electric.
In addition to the public relations department constantly issuing announcements to refute the rumors, Ota was also busy tracing where the news came from.
In fact, it goes without saying that it must be the General Association that is secretly behind this.
If what was expected was correct, it should be the Event House and Publishing House under the General Association House that were taking action.
Digging up dirt and spreading rumors, who else but them could use these familiar tactics?
It can be seen that Shirakawa Kaede's original words "the bed is ready for you" were regarded as a declaration of war by the general association.
Not only did Shirakawa Electric anticipate these actions of the other party, but many corporate executives with some background probably also knew what was going on.
There is nothing new under the sun. Neon is so small, what kind of filth can be hidden?
"Shirakawa-san, I knew that these guys in the General Association House can't scare you at all.
They are used to being rude and think you will submit like those gentlemen.
But little did you know that as the founder of Shirakawa Group, you, Shirakawa-san, don't buy it at all.
Haha~, good! This time we must let those guys see that not everyone will choose to compromise."
Mentioning the series of laughter on the phone, Baichuan Feng pinched his brows, feeling a little amused.
"Tian Yuan-san, please stop praising me. I'm having a headache because of this matter.
Because of this group of guys' trouble, Shirakawa Electric's stock price has fallen a lot."
“Haha, Baichuan, don’t think I don’t know who took the initiative to push down the stock price.
But I have to remind you that Sony and Nintendo have taken a lot of your stocks recently.
Shirakawa Electric's operating profit is backed by solid data, and your stock is favored by many investment companies."
Tian Yuanjie's vague hints made Shirakawa Feng raise his eyebrows.
As expected of the chairman of Nomura Securities, Shirakawa Holdings' private moves could not be hidden from them.
Why did Shirakawa Electric's stock fall? That's because Shirakawa Holdings was slowly cashing out in secret.
In January, due to the stock market crash, Shirakawa Electric's stock price fell by more than one-third.
During that period of undervaluation, Shirakawa Holdings repurchased a number of its own shares.
Later in May, the Nikkei index stabilized again to around 30,000 points, and now the stock market situation in June seems a bit not good again.
It just so happened that the General Association was spreading rumors again, so Shirakawa Holdings decided to take advantage of the situation and sell some of the shares to cash in.
Even if the Nikkei index does not fall in the future, it may fall once the rumors about the General Association House spread.
So when the rumor first appeared, the first one to sell it was Baichuan Holdings itself, in order to cash out some of the money and run away before the stock price fell.
However, these small actions did not go unnoticed by Nomura Securities, one of the leading securities companies in Japan.
However, he was somewhat surprised to find that Sony and Nintendo were secretly purchasing shares of Shirakawa Electric.
Are these two guys planning to steal the house? It doesn't seem like it, Baichuan Holdings' shareholding ratio has never been less than half.
But never mind. Baichuan Feng didn’t take the competitors’ sneaky moves seriously.
The headquarters is the focus that needs attention at the moment. Although these guys' methods are despicable, they are indeed a headache.
"Tanabuchi-san, what do you think of the General Association House and the people behind it, such as Ryuichi Koike and Kaoru Ogawa?"
Taking this opportunity, Shirakawa Feng also prepared to ask this well-known industry insider about his attitude towards the general association.
When Shirakawa Kaede asked this question, Setsuya Tanbuchi seemed to hear a chuckle from the other side of the phone.
"They are just a bunch of parasites. They have lost their function as a transit station and will perish sooner or later."
"Then will the other party at the transfer station care about the existence of the headquarters?"
Hmm? Tian Yuanjie's eyes sparkled, and he sat up straighter in his office chair.
“The rules of the game require a transfer station, but a transfer station does not have to be a clubhouse.”
The same light flashed in Baichuan Feng's eyes, "I see, thank you Tian Yuan-san for your guidance today.
After this busy period, I will definitely treat you to a drink later. Of course, please come and enjoy~"
"Haha, no problem~ But Shirakawa-san, please be aware that the Prosecutors' Office has also been paying close attention to the General Association House recently."
Before saying goodbye, Tian Yuanjie seemed to give a reminder unintentionally.
Hearing the name of the Prosecutor's Office, Shirakawa Feng smiled and said, "Thank you for your reminder~"
After hanging up the phone, Baichuan Feng leaned his head back in the chair, closed his eyes, and began to silently perfect his previous plan in his mind.
The transfer station...the headquarters house...what a strange existence.
But since the rules of the game require it, let's just make do with it for now.
The transit station that Setsune Tabuchi mentioned is the role currently played by the general association house.
As mentioned earlier, some insider trading does not go through formal channels and can only be completed through the club house.
If a company wants to transfer benefits to a certain official, it will first entrust it to a securities company.
The securities companies then found the headquarters and used them to deliver the unissued bond stocks to the officials.
After going through the two intermediate links, it is difficult for outsiders to find out the details even if they want to investigate.
This is why the General Association House is still active today despite being under legal suppression.
If dirty things can exist, it means someone needs them to do dirty work.
This is also the reason why Nomura Securities, which has a vested interest in the Association, is looked down upon by Setsu Tabuchi.
Nomura Securities had transactions with Sosoya, which were commissioned by other companies.
Forced by Party A’s request, in order to get the order, the securities company had no choice but to cooperate with the association.
It has been like this since ancient times. If you want to sit down and play, you have to follow the rules.
But now, a hint of coldness flashed in Baichuan Feng's eyes, and it all depends on what the general meeting room will choose next.
Although the shareholders' meeting has not yet been held, some preparations need to be made in advance.
Thinking of this, Baichuan Feng picked up the phone and dialed a number.
An hour later, Ota appeared in front of Shirakawa Kaede on time.
"Here." Shirakawa Feng took out a document from the drawer and handed it to Ota.
"Shirakawa-san, this is..."
“In the next period of time, I will take you to familiarize yourself with the contact information of certain important officials and executives one by one.
All you have to do is remember them, and then find a way to quietly deliver to them the additional shares that SIC is going to issue.
Remember that the method must be reliable, secret, and cannot be traced. Even if there is a problem in any link in the process, neither the customer nor yourself will be held responsible. "
Every word of Baichuan Feng made Ota's heart tighten, but it was followed by excitement.
Is this a big fight? Tai Tian couldn't hold it back any longer.
Stretching out his slightly trembling hands, Ota couldn't help but widen his eyes when he looked at the names on the list.
These people are frequent visitors to TV news channels. To be honest, Ota has never come into contact with these people at the pinnacle of power.
But the more this happened, the more excited he became.
This is what a Showa man should be like.
He couldn't wait to make the Mud Stick Company bigger and stronger.
"Remember this is top secret, and treat it like a business."
After handing him the information, Baichuan Feng gave him some special and serious instructions.
"Ha! I will die!"
…
Time has come to mid-June, and shareholders' meetings of listed companies in Japan are being held intensively during this period.
Financial news and Yomiuri Shimbun have also devoted a lot of space to reporting on these issues in recent times.
But which shareholder meeting are the media most looking forward to? Of course it has to be Shirakawa Electric.
In addition to the slander caused by various rumors, they had a keen sense of smell and knew that there was a secret force dealing with Shirakawa Electric.
One of the top three electronic manufacturing companies, Shirakawa Electric.
Are there any violent gangs that dare to target them? This is going to be a good show.
The reporters who were eager to watch the fun had all been waiting at the entrance of the Imperial Hotel on the day when the Shirakawa Electric shareholders' meeting was held as scheduled.
At nine o'clock in the morning, as Shirakawa Kaede's car arrived at the hotel lobby entrance, the reporters' flash lights lit up one after another.
But unfortunately they didn’t seize the opportunity to interview due to the long distance.
But it doesn’t matter. As reporters, they have admission tickets and can enter openly after 10 o’clock.
After getting out of the car, Baichuan Feng just walked to the threshold of the lobby when he suddenly ran into someone who looked familiar.
But before he could think carefully, the other party walked over to him with a smile.
"I am Ogawa Fumio, and I didn't expect that you, Mr. Shirakawa, would come in person. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Looking at the smiling face in front of him, Baichuan Feng narrowed his eyes slightly.