The Vets (Stephen Leather Thrillers) (76 page)

“I understand perfectly,” said the director. “We fully endorse the idea of a takeover, but I repeat that we do not wish the exchange fund to be used in such a manner. We do not want to see a repeat of the bad feeling that was caused by the lack of consultation over the airport project.”

The Governor ran his hand through his greying hair. His administration was still smarting over the Chinese reaction to the colony’s plan to build a new airport on one of the outlying islands as a replacement for Kai Tak, which had just about reached its operating limits. Beijing had at first threatened to veto the project, and had only allowed it to go ahead once it was given authority to award major contracts and franchises over the head of the Hong Kong administration. The agreement was negotiated directly with London and was a massive slap in the face for the colony’s bureaucrats, as well as setting a precedent for the Chinese. The British government wanted the handover to proceed as smoothly as possible, and was scared to death of civil revolt and bloodshed. In order to achieve that it had allowed China gradually to backtrack on many of its promises made in the 1984 joint declaration under which Hong Kong was guaranteed an elected legislature and full autonomy, except in defence and foreign affairs, after the handover. Under Chinese pressure the government had already refused full democratic elections of the legislature and was now giving the Beijing cadres a growing say in the affairs of the colony prior to 1997.

“Would such a loan from the exchange fund be possible if the administration were to consult with the Chinese government?” asked the Governor. “It would then, of course, be made clear that the rescue had the backing of China, that China was keen to see the stability of the Hong Kong banking system maintained.” In other words, the Governor thought wryly, so that China could claim the credit.

“No, it would not,” said the director, dashing the Governor’s hopes.

He decided to try a different tack. “The director is of course aware of the localised outbreaks of discontent we have experienced,” he said. “The violence is a result of customers of the bank being concerned about their savings. There is a risk that if we do not act quickly to support the Kowloon and Canton Bank, there will be further outbreaks of disorder. There is an added complication in that many of the assets in the looted safety-deposit boxes had been used as security against borrowings which had in turn been invested in the stock market.”

There was no response and for a moment the Governor thought that the connection had been cut. Eventually he heard a grunt, so he continued. “Investors lodged certificates of deposit, gold and other valuables, with the bank and the bank in turn loaned them money to buy shares. Now that the contents of the boxes have been stolen, the investors will be forced to sell their shares. If that happens, the Hang Seng Index will fall sharply, perhaps as sharply as it fell during the 1987 worldwide stock market crash. It could be the final blow for Hong Kong, Director. If the stock market does indeed crash, Hong Kong’s reputation as a financial centre may be irrevocably damaged. And such a collapse would hit every investor in Hong Kong, not just the bank’s customers. I am told that sell orders are already piling up in stockbrokers’ offices. There will be a rout when the market opens later this morning. Unless we act.”

“I understand, but I repeat that we do not wish the exchange fund to be used to support the bank.”

“Director, I must not be making myself clear. If the bank fails, and if the market crashes, there will be civil disorder of the like never seen before in Hong Kong, coming at a time when our police force is in a weakened state. We will be stretched to the limit to contain the discontent.”

“We have already considered that eventuality,” said the director, calmly. “We are moving a division of the People’s Liberation Army to the outskirts of Guangdong. If necessary they will be used to maintain law and order in the colony.”

“You can’t do that!” exclaimed the Governor without thinking.

“We can, and if necessary we will,” said the director, unaffected by the Governor’s undiplomatic outburst. “Do not forget that you are only tenants of Hong Kong, we are the landlords. If a tenant does not take care of the property, a landlord has the right to move to make sure that there is no damage. You are also aware how close we came to sending in troops during the stock market crash of 1987. We will do everything we have to do in order to maintain law and order in Hong Kong. Am I making myself clear?”

“Yes, perfectly,” said the Governor.

“The Kowloon and Canton Bank must put its own affairs in order,” said the director. “That is an end to it. Good night, Governor, and my sincere apologies for awakening you.”

“Good morning,” said the Governor pointedly. The line went dead. His wife lay curled up in the foetal position, snoring quietly, the quilt pulled around her like a shroud. The Governor dialled the number of the Financial Secretary, shaking his head in bewilderment.

An angry crowd gathered outside the headquarters of the Kowloon and Canton Bank at six o’clock in the morning, shouting slogans and waving banners. An effigy of William Fielding was soaked in petrol and set on fire. When police moved in with fire extinguishers, the demonstrators started breaking up paving stones and throwing them. One officer was taken to hospital with a cut eye and three demonstrators were injured when the police moved in with stun guns and batons. More than a dozen demonstrators sat in a circle outside the bank building and announced they were going on a hunger strike until they received their money. The Police Commissioner ordered all his men to report for duty, no matter what their status. All leave was cancelled, all men were to work around the clock until further notice. Two hundred constables in riot gear were posted outside the bank’s headquarters. Rumours that the government was refusing to bail out the bank spread like wildfire, and several branches in the New Territories reported that their windows had been broken. The Police Commissioner doubled the guard on his home, just to be on the safe side.

William Fielding arrived in his office at seven o’clock, three hours before his branches were due to open. He had needed three stitches on his forehead and they’d been covered with a large sticking plaster. His head throbbed and he had trouble focusing but he’d discharged himself from hospital and called an emergency meeting of his directors, his head of security and the bank’s public relations advisers. Following Alex Perman’s dismal performance on television after the robbery, Fielding had insisted on outside consultants being called in. They were now into crisis public relations and Alex Perman was clearly out of his depth.

Fielding had needed a police escort to get into the building, and his car had been kicked and spat on. Two policemen had gone with him into the building and ridden up in the elevator with him. Both had been armed. The boardroom had been prepared – notepads and pens distributed around the long, oval mahogany table, and crystal decanters of water set in the centre, with upturned crystal tumblers at each place setting. Most of the directors were there. George Ballantine nodded a greeting and Alex Perman was flanked by two representatives of the public relations firm. Charles Devlin got up from his chair and went over to Fielding as he sat down at the head of the table.

“William, are you sure you should be out of the hospital? You look terrible.”

Devlin had been one of the first to visit Fielding in the hospital. He’d also helped Anne and Debbie deal with the police investigating the break-in at their house.

“I’ll be okay, Charlie, but thanks for your concern. And thanks for taking care of Anne.”

“Is she okay?”

“She’s in shock, the doctor’s given her a tranquilliser.”

“What about the man they took with you?”

“Anthony Chung? He’s still in hospital. It seems the bullet did more damage than they thought at first. He might lose his arm.”

“Poor devil,” sympathised Devlin. “You’re lucky they didn’t shoot you, I guess.”

Fielding put his hand to his injured head and winced. “Lucky isn’t exactly how I feel, Charlie, but I know what you mean.”

Devlin went back to his seat and the remaining directors arrived and took their places. Fielding opened the meeting, and quickly went over the events of the previous eighteen hours. The story of the depository raid had been all over the front pages of the morning papers, along with the abortive robbery at the racetrack. None of the newspapers, English or Chinese, reported the clash between Hong Kong and Chinese police at sea. The
South China Morning Post
and the
Hong Kong Standard
had both carried editorials calling on the government to use the exchange fund to support the bank, and there were unattributed quotes in their news stories suggesting that the Banking Commissioner would announce such a rescue before the stock exchange started trading. The
Hong Kong Economic Journal
had managed to get quotes from the Banking Commissioner saying he planned to use the fund, but the Chinese paper also suggested that Beijing was unhappy with his proposal. Several of the Chinese papers had investigated the effect the robbery would have on the stock exchange. They had discovered that two of Hong Kong’s most aggressive corporate raiders had substantial loans from the bank, backed by gold deposits, which they had used to fund several major acquisitions. The shares were certain to be sold in early trading, the papers warned, and there were quotes from analysts suggesting that share prices could plunge by as much as forty per cent. Estimates of how much had been taken in the robbery varied from 700 million to 1,000 million HK dollars.

“George, do we have a figure on how much was taken?” Fielding asked Ballantine.

George Ballantine looked at him with bleary, reddened eyes. He had had very little sleep, like most of the men around the table. “Virtually all our gold stocks were taken, equivalent to 426 million HK dollars at Friday’s closing price. The foreign exchange stocks they took amount to about 125 million HK dollars, depending on the exchange rates. As to the contents of the safety-deposit boxes, well, it’s anybody’s guess. We’ve a queue half a mile long outside the depository. We’ve had clerks taking statements from as many people as we can, but most are reluctant to say what was in their boxes until they know whether they’ve been broken into or not. It’s hundreds of millions of dollars, that’s for sure. Tens of millions of pounds.”

Fielding nodded. “What about our cash flow? Assuming there is a run on the bank, what shape are we in to pay out?”

The director in charge of operations tapped his pen on his notepad. “We have up to 100,000 HK dollars cash in each branch, minimum. Our larger branches have up to 500,000 HK dollars. That sounds a lot but it could go very quickly once people start closing their accounts. The ATMs alone can pay out 120,000 HK dollars every hour, and we have 410 of them. Assuming they’re all in operation, that’s almost fifty million HK dollars an hour.”

There were whistles of disbelief from around the table.

Fielding nodded. “I suggest that we don’t replenish the ATMs,” he said, and there were several nods of agreement. “What about getting cash to the branches?”

The director tapped his pen again. “We have sixty-three armoured cars and vans, of which eighteen are out of service. That leaves forty-five, but Personnel tells me we have only thirty-eight drivers.”

“We can commandeer more drivers if necessary,” said Fielding.

“In that case we have forty-five vans and cars. If it takes each car thirty minutes to make a delivery, it will take just two hours to resupply each branch. I would add, however, that following last night’s events, we will need extra security when deliveries are taking place.”

George Ballantine coughed. “If I may interrupt, Mr Chairman, security won’t be a problem. I have arranged with the police for armed guards as and when we deliver, and I have brought in two private security firms. We will cope.”

“Good, good,” said Fielding. “The only problem is, do we have enough cash. Charlie?”

Devlin exhaled deeply. “That depends on what the Banking Commissioner decides,” he said. “If he comes through and supports us with the exchange fund, we can borrow all we need from the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and from Standard Chartered. Once the crowds see we’re paying out, confidence will soon return.”

Fielding nodded. “I hope to hear from the Banking Commissioner within the hour,” he said. “I think one of our main priorities must be to inform our customers what is happening. Alex, I want you to arrange radio and television interviews for nine o’clock, and I want posters printed so that we can stick them up on the windows. In Chinese, of course. They should explain what is happening and that their money is safe.”

One of the public relations consultants raised a hand. Fielding smiled at his schoolroom approach and asked him to speak.

“I think you should consider the international ramifications of this,” said a suave man in his forties, with slicked-back hair and horn-rimmed spectacles. “I suggest you call in the major foreign correspondents –
The Times
, the
Financial Times
, the
Independent
,
Wall Street Journal
,
New York Times
. Get them here and speak to them personally. You’re going to need all the overseas support you can get.”

“Good idea,” said Fielding. “Get on to it, will you, Alex?”