Chapter 531: Burying Japan
On December 24, Christmas Eve, Shirakawa Kaede's private car stopped in front of a quiet villa in Chiyoda Ward.
This place is actually very close to his home, only about ten minutes' walk away.
However, considering the special nature of what was being discussed tonight, he got into the car in a low-key manner and traveled secretly.
After the car stopped in front of the villa, Baichuan Feng just got out of the car when a man who looked like a butler came up to him.
"Shirakawa-san, the master is waiting for you inside."
"Thank you." Baichuan Feng nodded and followed him into the villa.
Also traveling with him today is Hiroshi Arai. Issues in the banking industry must be handled by him, a professional.
Led by the butler, Baichuan Feng entered the main hall of the villa and found that everyone here was familiar.
Masaji Okuda of Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank took over the position of headmaster after Miyazaki committed suicide.
He Xi of Industrial Bank, Shan Pu of Chang Yin, Matsuoka of Bond Bank, Mitsui Nakajima, Mitsubishi Yamamoto, Nishikawa of Sumitomo...
It can be said that the decision-makers of all the top banks in Japan are here.
In addition, Mieno of the Bank of Japan and Tsuchimura, the financial leader of Keidanren, are also on the list.
If we put these people together, we can roughly assume that they represent the entire banking industry in Japan.
When they Shirakawa Feng and Arai Yu coming in, everyone greeted them politely.
Although Kitato Bank is a rising star, it was initially just a local bank.
But the more they understand the banking industry, the more they know about the foundation of Kitato Bank.
Even the way everyone looked at Shirakawa Kaede and Arai Yu had a hint of suspicion.
Why? Because Beidu Bank has very few land-secured loan businesses.
In other words, Kitato Bank has less non-performing debts and no bad debt pressure.
In this situation, let’s not talk about whether banks can make money. Ensuring their own financial health is the top priority.
After Shirakawa Feng and Arai Yu sat down on the sofa, they looked at each other with complicated eyes.
Some looked sad, some were lost in thought, and some simply didn't care, but none of them were full of fighting spirit.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, the new cabinet minister, Miyazawa Kiichi, coughed to attract everyone's attention.
"Okay, now that everyone is here, let's get started."
As he said this, he gestured to his assistant Nakajima behind him, and the latter distributed the prepared materials one by one.
Baichuan Feng took a quick look at the information and his expression immediately became much more serious.
"First of all, I want to make it clear that today's meeting is top secret and no one is allowed to disclose it!"
The warning look in Miyazawa Kiichi's eyes was almost telling everyone that if they knowingly committed a crime, they would be charged with treason.
After seeing the information in their hands, everyone nodded solemnly.
It contains top-secret data on the Japanese economy, especially the losses that the financial industry may face after the bubble bursts.
"Everyone, Japan is in a life-or-death crisis. If the stock market continues to fall, a credit system crisis will soon erupt.
I believe you all know what kind of situation Japan will face once the credit system collapses. "
What will happen if the credit system collapses? It will make Japan return to the pre-liberation era overnight, and the achievements accumulated during the 20-year golden development period will become nothing.
No one can bear the consequences, not even Miyazawa Kiichi, and certainly not anyone else present.
“Therefore, I discussed with Mr. Mieno and decided that if the stock price falls below 14,000 yen.
Then take immediate action, shut down the Tokyo Stock Exchange urgently, and the Bank of Japan will start providing unlimited special financing funds. "
This step is a last resort taken by the government just in case.
Although some people were not very supportive of this, they did not speak out against it in the end.
Because the current Nikkei index has remained at around 15,000 yen, this is a blessing in disguise.
The more than double drop from nearly 40,000 points at the beginning of the year to 15,000 points now has resulted in huge losses for countless financial institutions.
Seeing that no one objected to the most important and fundamental resolution, Miyazawa finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It is not easy to be the Minister of State, especially when faced with such a thorny problem right after taking office.
However, as long as the stock market can stabilize and does not continue to deteriorate, the government will have enough time to deal with the bad debts.
"Yoshi, you are indeed the pillars of Japan's economy. I would like to thank you on behalf of all 100 million Japanese citizens."
The Bank of Japan will not be able to complete the task of flooding the market with money without the cooperation of major banks.
And if we really have to open the floodgates to release the water, everyone will actually suffer certain losses.
Therefore, Miyazawa willingly bowed to express his gratitude for everyone's cooperation.
The first resolution was a good start, and Miyazawa couldn't wait to propose the second resolution.
"In view of the huge losses of securities institutions in special funds, the Ministry of Finance should take the lead in drafting a plan to compensate the companies that have suffered losses."
As soon as Miyazawa finished speaking, the new Finance Minister, Tsutomu Hata, frowned.
"Mr. Motoko, according to reports from the outside media, the losses exposed in the securities industry alone are as high as 10 trillion yen.
How should this 10 trillion loss be compensated? How much should be compensated? Who will provide the compensation funds?
The 10 trillion yen loss that Hata Tsutomu mentioned was based on the information revealed in the Hayama incident.
And this third question in a row made Miyazawa's expression freeze.
Shirakawa Kaede and Arai Yu looked at each other calmly. It seemed that the Finance Minister did not seem to buy Miyazawa Kiichi's account.
Although he hit a snag neither too hard nor too soft, Miyazawa had been the Minister of Finance after all and was very familiar with the situation in the securities industry.
So he thought for a while and then said, "It's based on the loss data reported .
Those not listed here are considered "skipped operations" and are the responsibility of the securities institutions themselves. "
When the stock market crashed for the first time at the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Finance explicitly banned special financial operations.
In addition, any losses incurred due to special business funds before this should also be reported to the Ministry of Finance in a timely manner.
It’s just that many securities institutions value its high returns and have never stopped, and some have even deliberately concealed their losses.
The concealed losses are called "skipping operations", a typical example of which is Yamaichi Securities' loss of 260 billion yen.
To put it bluntly, you hid it before, and now I don't admit it, so you don't get any compensation.
If that was the case, Haneda thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement.
According to the information he had learned, only a few securities institutions actually reported their losses to the Ministry of Finance, and the total amount was only around 100 billion yen.
The securities companies will pay the bulk of the payment, and Daizo will provide some minor support. One hundred billion yen is not difficult to achieve.
However, after they discussed this, Hexi of Industrial Bank was a little unhappy, after all, Yamaichi Securities was associated with Industrial Bank.
But who can be blamed for this? The one who violated the rules was Yamaichi himself.
So Miyazawa and the Ministry of Finance simply ignored Kogyo's expression and continued to discuss the last resolution of the meeting .
"Finally, what do you think about the resolution to set up a special agency to acquire real estate developers that are guaranteed by financial institutions?"
Hearing this question, Shirakawa Kaede and Arai Yu were shocked and came.
The first two problems have nothing to do with them because Beidu Bank has perfectly avoided the minefield.
But the last one concerns their vital interests.
"May I ask, Mr. Miyazawa, who is in charge of this organization? How much is the investment? Where does the money come from? Is there a specific evaluation basis for the real estate developers that are acquired?"
Another series of rhetorical questions, but this time the questions were asked by Nakajima from Mitsui Bank.
As if he had expected someone to ask this question, Miyazawa Kiichi answered calmly.
“The agency is under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance and supervised by everyone.
The initial investment estimate is 50 trillion yen, of which the Ministry of Finance will be responsible for 10 trillion yen, and the rest will be borne by all of you.
As for the acquisition criteria of real estate developers, they will be discussed and reviewed by major banks.”
As Miyazawa Kiichi finished his words, the hall fell into an eerie silence for a moment.
The expressions on many people's faces were all incredible.
"Mr. Miyazawa, are you sure that this money will be shared by the major banks?" Yamamoto from Mitsubishi Bank wondered if he had heard it wrong.
"This is the best measure to resolve the current real estate crisis. If we don't want the real estate market to collapse, we must act as soon as possible."
"But it's far from a time to talk about a crisis in the real estate industry. Although house prices have fallen, they are still at a high level compared to before."
Nishikawa of Sumitomo Bank couldn't help but retort.
Are you kidding me? Let the banks pay to cover the real estate developers?
The first to oppose were the three chaebol banks. If the 40 trillion was divided equally, each would get two or three trillion.
Equivalent to more than 20 billion US dollars! Lord Shouxiang, do you really know what you are talking about?
"Ladies and gentlemen, sharing risks with real estate developers is to eliminate hidden dangers for banks.
Don't forget that the real estate developers have mortgaged the land to you.
When land prices plummet, the banks will be the ones that suffer the most.
Besides, the Ministry of Finance’s economic rescue is not only for real estate developers, there will also be corresponding measures for banks in the future.”
Kiichi Miyazawa explained the pros and cons, and he deeply felt that this crisis was not just a stock market crisis.
It is also a crisis of the entire Japanese financial market, as well as a crisis of the "land myth" and the "bank insolvency myth".
However, in response to his impassioned speech, Finance Minister Haneda gave a neutral reply.
"If you speak inappropriately, it will cause us trouble."
The Ministry of Finance has never said that it will pay out 10 trillion yen. Do you still think that money is worthless now during the Plaza Accord?
Haneda's words deeply hurt Miyazawa, who was the chief minister of the cabinet...
"I also feel that the bank's business has not deteriorated to this extent." Nakajima of Mitsui Bank continued to add fuel to the fire.
Miyazawa's face froze, and he looked at banks with state-owned backgrounds such as Industrial Bank and Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank.
Kawamura and Okuda both lowered their heads in silence, and it was obvious that they did not agree with this either.
Holding on to the last hope, Miyazawa turned his gaze to Shirakawa Kaede again.
More than 20 billion US dollars, Beidu Bank has this money.
But... Shirakawa Feng glanced at the eyes in the room that were staring at him, and gave Miyazawa an apologetic look.
"The number of loans that Kitato Bank has worked with real estate developers is very small, and our business focus is not on land."
Miyazawa's face became visibly darker. "Forget it. Now that things have come to this, let's just follow the first and second agreements."
After saying that, Kiichi Miyazawa waved his hand to signal the end of the meeting. Everyone looked at each other and silently stood up and left the hall.
"Shirakawa~"
Just as Baichuan Feng stood up, Miyazawa suddenly called him.
"What Kitato Bank did was right. The land is worth more than it should be worth."
"Miyazawa-san, just now..."
Miyazawa Kiichi raised his hand to signal him not to mind it, "It's not your fault. After all, Kitato Bank is innocent."
After saying that, he stood up, put his hands behind his back, and slowly walked towards the backyard.
For some reason, Baichuan Feng always felt that his back was a little more hunched.
"Let's go too." Shirakawa Feng brought Arai Yu to the gate.
Several familiar bank bosses were chatting and laughing here.
"Shirakawa-san, would you like to have a drink together?" Okuda of Dai-ichi Kangin invited him warmly.
"Okay," Baichuan Feng responded to them with a smile as usual.
"Yoshi, let's go to Roppongi and don't come back until we're drunk!"
"Haha, okay!" Kawamura of Industrial Bank responded loudly.
Looking at everyone's smiling faces, Baichuan Feng looked at the starry night sky and sighed deeply.
Japan is finished
Just now, the last chance to save Japan from the bubble was ruined by himself and the people around him.
The golden age will be gone forever, and the lost ten, twenty, and thirty years are beckoning in the distance...
