Genius Grandson Of The Loan Shark King

The Chairman of the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA), Adair Turner, convened an emergency press conference.

Held at the FSA headquarters in central London, the conference drew not only every major British news outlet, but also the international press.

"I would like to announce the FSA's position regarding Barclays' acquisition of Lehman Brothers."

Chairman Turner began speaking.

"After conducting a thorough review, the FSA has decided not to approve this acquisition."

The press room erupted into commotion.

After taking a brief breath, Turner continued.

"This decision was made after considering the stability of the British financial system and the interests of Barclays' shareholders. We have obtained information indicating that Lehman Brothers' financial condition is far more serious than what has been officially disclosed. Under these circumstances, allowing the acquisition to proceed would pose a significant risk not only to Barclays but to the British financial market as a whole."

The moment Turner finished speaking, questions poured in.

"Was there any outside pressure behind the decision not to approve the acquisition?"

"None whatsoever."

Turner answered firmly.

"This decision was made solely based on the FSA's independent judgment."

"Several media outlets have alleged that the FSA had already internally decided to approve the deal. Do you intend to address those allegations?"

After staring directly at the reporter who had asked the question, Turner answered.

"To be perfectly honest, there was an attempt to influence us. Someone asked us to approve this acquisition."

It was as though a bomb had exploded in the press room.

His tone was calm, but the repercussions of those words would undoubtedly be enormous.

"Is that true? Are you admitting there was lobbying, Sir Turner?"

"No. I am saying that such a request was made, but we chose not to grant it. If Barclays were to acquire Lehman under these circumstances, Britain's financial system could collapse. The FSA exists to protect the British financial system, not the interests of individuals or organizations."

"Who made the request?"

"I'm afraid I can't disclose that."

Turner replied with an inscrutable expression.

No matter how many questions followed, he answered calmly.

However, he never revealed who had tried to influence him.

"I'll take one final question."

Reporters all raised their hands.

After selecting one of them, the reporter stood and asked,

"Is there absolutely no way for Barclays to acquire Lehman Brothers?"

"Hmm..."

After a brief pause, Turner answered,

"It's not that there's no way at all."

"What would that be?"

"If the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve were to provide support, we could reconsider our approval. We could also consider approving the purchase of certain assets. However, all of that depends on the intentions of the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve."

With those words, Turner ended the press conference and quickly left the room.

Meanwhile, Barclays' major shareholders also came out one after another in opposition to the acquisition.

Jaber, head of the Qatar Investment Authority, released a statement saying,

"The acquisition of Lehman Brothers could expose Barclays and its shareholders to excessive risk."

He officially opposed the transaction.

Chen Yuan, Chairman of the China Development Bank, also expressed opposition.

"Given the current uncertainty in the global financial markets, this is not an appropriate time for an acquisition of this scale."

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, Temasek, likewise announced its opposition, stating,

"We have serious concerns regarding Lehman Brothers' actual financial condition."

With major shareholders openly opposing the deal and the FSA refusing approval, Barclays' board convened an emergency meeting.

After heated debate that lasted late into the night, Barclays ultimately decided to withdraw its plan to acquire Lehman Brothers.

What never became public was that several directors, determined to push the acquisition through to the end, stormed out of the meeting.

The following morning, Barclays Chairman John Varley released an official statement.

"Respecting the FSA's decision and the opinions of our major shareholders, we have decided to withdraw our plan to acquire Lehman Brothers. We firmly believe this decision serves the long-term interests of Barclays and our shareholders."

As the news spread, the financial markets were thrown into turmoil once again.

Barclays' share price climbed, while Lehman Brothers' stock plummeted.

* * *

Watching everything unfold from the hotel, I smiled in satisfaction.

Everything was proceeding exactly according to plan.

After listening to Manager Ma's full report, I lowered my gaze back to the Wall Street Journal in my hands.

The article I had been reading featured an interview with a financial analyst.

[Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy is only a matter of time, and it is now time to focus on the impact that collapse will have on the entire U.S. financial market.]

I set the newspaper down and looked at Manager Ma.

"Manager, what's Lehman's next move?"

"Now that the sale to Barclays has fallen through, they're searching for another buyer."

Slowly rubbing my chin, I reviewed the situation.

A moment later, after organizing my thoughts, I asked,

"Who are they talking to?"

"The Korea Development Bank is the most aggressive party at the moment."

"Ha..."

A dry laugh escaped me.

"The Korea Development Bank... Who's leading the negotiations?"

"I've heard that Governor Min Yusik is pushing the deal aggressively. He's personally in New York conducting the negotiations."

"Governor Min came to New York?"

"Yes."

"He hasn't even been in office for a month, has he? And he's handling a project this big?"

"We haven't been able to learn the details of the internal situation yet."

I'd already asked the President not to get involved in this matter under any circumstances.

Yet Min Yusik had personally flown to New York to negotiate.

There was a high probability he was acting on his own without presidential approval.

"Find out everything you can. And locate the hotel where Governor Min is staying."

"Yes, sir. I'll investigate immediately."

After Manager Ma left, I picked up my phone and called Eva.

"Boss?"

"Eva, do you have a minute? Apparently Governor Min from the Korea Development Bank is in New York negotiating to acquire Lehman. Do you know anything about it?"

"Governor Min is trying to buy Lehman? I haven't heard a thing."

Even Eva knew nothing.

Something smelled off.

"Find out what's going on. What exactly is he thinking? By the way, how did Min become the governor of the Korea Development Bank in the first place?"

"They reached an agreement among themselves. The Financial Services Commission nominates a candidate, then the President approves the appointment. Unless there's a major issue, presidential approval is basically just a formality. Besides, the previous governor got thrown out because of that corruption scandal, so it probably went through even more easily."

"If the President can appoint him, then dismissing him is also within the President's authority, right?"

Eva let out a quiet hum.

"Technically, yes. But dismissing him without a valid reason would create procedural problems. There wouldn't be sufficient legal grounds, and politically it would become very controversial. Besides... President Yoon's term is almost over."

"Got it. Just find out what's happening."

"I'll call you as soon as I know something, Boss."

After hanging up, I called Manager Ma back in.

"Manager, we're returning to New York."

"I'll make the arrangements immediately."

We had finished preparing to leave.

However, because of unexpected visitors, I was unable to return to New York.

"Good day, Charlie."

The visitors were Chairman Petersen and CEO Nick Buckles of G4S.

"It's a pleasure to see you, Chairman Petersen."

I shook Chairman Petersen's hand first.

"Mr. Nick Buckles, it's a pleasure to meet you."

After shaking Buckles' hand as well, I led them to their seats.

As soon as we sat facing each other, the conversation began.

"So, what brings you here today?"

"We're here to ask you to help secure the release of our employees who are being held in Italy."

Nick's words made me tilt my head.

"Why are you asking me? I heard negotiations are already underway."

"That's true. But their demands are excessive."

Really now?

His matter-of-fact tone made one of my eyebrows twitch.

"Excessive? What exactly is excessive?"

"They're demanding a ransom of one hundred thousand dollars for ordinary mercenaries and two hundred thousand dollars for commanders."

"As far as I know, those are perfectly reasonable figures. What's the problem?"

"In conflict zones like Africa, payments of around one hundred thousand dollars do happen. But in Europe or Asia, we've never seen ransoms at that level."

I nodded.

"So you're asking me to mediate?"

"Exactly. As the owner of Black Bear, surely you're in a position to mediate."

I adjusted my posture before replying.

"And why should I? If Black Bear mercenaries had been captured instead, would you still say those ransom demands were excessive?"

"Well..."

"This wasn't a conflict zone or a battlefield. It was a firefight in Italy. That means someone has to take responsibility. If you think the ransom is too high, then compensate for it in some other way."

Nick tried to answer, but Chairman Petersen raised a hand to stop him.

"Charlie, what do we gain by arguing like this? Black Bear and our company are bound to cross paths many times in the future."

"Isn't that something we can discuss when the time comes?"

I answered bluntly.

Chairman Petersen looked directly at me.

Our eyes met in silence.

He was the first to surrender.

Letting out a deep sigh, Petersen said,

"Charlie, we didn't come here simply to negotiate over the ransom."

"There's another reason?"

"We're a security solutions company. We send our personnel wherever we're contracted to go. Whatever the assignment may be, once we've accepted it, we have to carry it out."

I already knew that.

"That's the nature of a mercenary company."

"This failed contract has cost us dearly. We're facing enormous compensation payments because of the failure. Financially, we're under tremendous pressure. Any additional costs from this incident would be a heavy burden."

"I don't think G4S is the sort of company that would collapse over something like this."

G4S had been around for well over a century.

Its current form was the result of numerous mergers and acquisitions, but its history stretched back more than a hundred years.

"To be honest with you, we've been handling contracts for Baltice for a long time. This assignment was also introduced to us by Baltice."

His frank honesty surprised me internally, though I showed nothing on my face as I listened.

"They provided funding when the company was founded. Their ownership has been diluted through mergers and acquisitions over the years, but they still hold a considerable stake."

"And why are you telling me this now?"

"I want to cut our ties with Baltice. I don't believe we'll ever get another opportunity like this."

This time, I couldn't completely hide my expression.

Seeing my surprise, Chairman Petersen smiled weakly.

"You want to cut ties?"

"Yes. This contract was illegal as well. But we couldn't refuse it. We're in a position where we can't even speak openly about it."

"So should I take that to mean you'd rather work with me instead of them?"

Chairman Petersen slowly nodded.

"And what about you?"

I turned to Nick, who had remained silent.

"I feel exactly the same."

Well, this was unexpected.

It was as if a windfall had landed right in my lap.

"Isn't G4S responsible for all of the Baltice families' security?"

"That's correct. We handle all of it."

"And you're willing to lose all those contracts? A significant portion of your revenue must come from them."

"We'll have to accept that. That's why we're here asking for your help."

"Give me a moment. I need to organize my thoughts."

I closed my eyes for a brief moment to sort through the situation.

A short while later, I opened them again and spoke.

"Then let's do this."