Chapter 63: 88888

“Why are you crying so much?”

Yu Seonjun, who showed up after lunch, appeared chewing gum.

I, who was in a bad mood because I was fantasizing about a bad future, replied bluntly.

“It’s period cramps, why.”

It’s a lie, but men don’t know, so it’s okay. I didn’t particularly want to know either…

“Anyway, come here and sit down, Oppa. I’ve made an interesting plan.”

“…Already?”

Yu Seonjun, who sent a look that said ‘of course’, crossed his legs and sat down.

-Thud.

His posture is bad, very.

“We’re going to short the British pound, right?”

“That’s right?”

“Then… what can we do with this?”

“What else are you going to do? Just stop it.”

Yu Seonjun looked at me as if he couldn’t believe it.

Why, if possible, you have to squeeze out every last drop.

“I, in fact, planted some bait in the past…”

The fact that the UK is pouring all its efforts into the pound means… it means that it can’t pay much attention to its own companies.

Let’s recall the old memories here.

Do you remember Nick Leeson, a new employee at Barings Bank?

Leeson, who made his mark by successfully making several contracts with Alpha Fund, was finally appointed as the head of the Singapore branch after only three years of joining the company.

Originally, he was only going to trade futures, but thanks to my intervention, an attractive derivative called CDS was created, and Leeson had a bad idea.

-They’re taking on the risk of the company going bankrupt? Aha! If it doesn’t go bankrupt, I’ll definitely make money!

..

Well, that’s true.

Thanks to that, Nick Leeson, backed by Alpha Fund, was selling CDS like crazy and raising its stock price.

-But if the company that issued the corporate bond goes bankrupt, won’t I be screwed?

This reasonable question didn’t apply to Leeson, who had an 88888 account.

If you hide the losses by transferring them to another account and only report the profitable accounts, ta-da, you get a return of over 1000 percent.

It’s like the sophistry that you’re invincible if you exclude the battles you lost, but surprisingly, it worked. Barings Bank, which was also frequently used by the famous Count of Monte Cristo in the novel… in my past life, didn’t notice at all while Nick Leeson was hiding losses of over $1 billion.

I don’t understand why they don’t go bankrupt if they manage their employees like that, but that’s why they went bankrupt.

It’s really a complicated and bizarre situation.

And the fact that that person is now on my side.

“Aha, so… a promising employee of a leading British investment bank is your mole? And you’re encouraging that moral hazard… to bankrupt Barings Bank, which has a history of hundreds of years?”

“Yes, yes, wouldn’t it be fun?”

“…It would be, fun.”

He doesn’t look convinced at all.

“Come on, think about it. The Soviet Union will collapse at the end of this year or early next year. You know this, right?”

“No, the premise itself is completely ridiculous! The Soviet Union will collapse this year?”

“Then the related government bonds and the companies that export will collapse in a row, and the corporate bonds of those companies will go bankrupt. According to the CDS contract, the insurance premium will have to be paid, so Mr. Leeson’s losses will increase, and then he will invest more aggressively and self-destruct.”

“…So.”

“So what! The German Bundesbank will continue to raise interest rates, and then the Bank of England will focus on defending the pound. Then acquire the bankrupt Barings Bank and it’s over!”

The most important part of this plan is to bankrupt Barings Bank. Everything else goes according to the original flow of history, but… Barings Bank will go bankrupt about 3-4 years earlier than in the original history.

Yu Seonjun looked at me like I was crazy.

“What do you think? It’s a completely great plan, isn’t it? The key is to acquire Barings Bank before the UK can arrange bailout funds!”

In the original history, Barings Bank also did not receive bailout funds, but since history has changed, a safety device must be created.

“….”

He swallowed a groan. I looked at Yu Seonjun with innocent eyes and said.

“Why? Do you have more questions?”

“Uh… um… I don’t know. Hayeon, I’m going. I ate well.”

-Whisk.

Yu Seonjun avoided his seat. I grabbed Yu Seonjun’s sleeve and gave him a thumbs down.

“Ugh, coward. Where did the gambler’s pride go?”

“Hey, I enjoy gambling, but this is a bit much. Causing an earthquake in a casino and secretly stealing chips is not gambling, okay? Did you get possessed by a spirit or something?”

I shook my head.

Anyway, this unbeliever…

“Oppa, then just find out one thing for me.”

“What is it?”

“Can you go to the Singapore branch and check how much loss Nick Leeson was hiding? This has nothing to do with gambling, right? Rather, it can be seen as managing risk.”

“…That much, I can do.”

Oppa finally understood and accepted my words with a dubious look.

***
March.

Daeha Investment Bank.

Yu Seonjun came to see me again. With a completely spaced-out look.

“…What is this? How… how could this…”

Yu Seonjun, who came to see me with a document in one hand, asked bluntly.

“What? I don’t know the details. I just vaguely expected it, that’s why I sent Oppa in the first place, right?”

“Ah, that’s right. Oh, my…”

Of course, I didn’t know what state Nick Leeson was in now. He’s a capable person who can ruin Barings Bank on his own, but since it’s a matter that requires sufficient trust, I only expected that the losses would be small for now.

Still, it was said that Leeson originally dealt with Nikkei futures and had a connection with Alpha Fund, so it was easy to investigate secretly.

-Thud.

Yu Seonjun gave me the investigated documents. I, who had just come home from school with my schoolbag, cleared the elementary school textbooks on the desk and skimmed through the documents.

“How much is there?”

[As a result of the investigation, the loss of the 88888 account is estimated to be 50 million dollars, about 60 billion won in Korean won]

“Hmm…”

-…But what is this?

I was speechless.

We’ve only been together for two years, haven’t we? Our relationship wasn’t this sticky. Let’s slow down the progress, teacher.

Even though he dealt with CDS in addition to futures, the loss is already 50 million dollars?

More than that, is it okay for this to come out so easily? Then why didn’t Barings Bank notice until just before it went bankrupt?

It’s only been two years since I supported Leeson…

“…Phew, that’s a relief.”

A sigh was heard in my ear. I tilted my head and asked.

“What’s a relief? That it seems much easier to eat Barings Bank?”

Yu Seonjun shook his head.

“That you still have common sense? The fact that there’s something you don’t know is suddenly comforting.”

“I always act rationally.”

“Yeah, right, sure.”

It’s true.

Assuming I know the future, my actions are extremely rational.

“Uh… then… what do we do?”

I slowly rolled my uncooperative head for a moment. Yu Seonjun looked at me with serious eyes.

“Can we acquire it? If we acquire a bank, we have to take on the debt as well, right? We shouldn’t encourage Leeson, we should restrain him.”

It’s absurd, but he’s right.

Originally, I was going to end it with a loss of about $1 billion, not $1.4 billion, as it was triggered early… This is a big deal at this rate.

If it’s about $50 million at the beginning of this year…, it will jump to almost over $500 million by the end of this year when the Soviet Union collapses.

Then, when short-selling the pound at the end of 1992…

If we look at the current trend, about 2 billion dollars?

‘Is he crazy?’

I don’t do that much. I don’t have a conscience, but I’m not brainless.

Does he think that if he buries his head in the sand, others won’t see it? It was actually not seen, but anyway…

The estimated loss is roughly $2 billion, and it could increase even more. It’s true that I spread CDS for this purpose, but it shouldn’t explode this early.

I can’t pay that back.

I need to stockpile enough bullets to hunt down companies in the Soviet Union after it collapses, but I can’t put that much money into Barings Bank.

I might end up doing someone else a favor.

I let out a hollow laugh.

“This, well, it’s ridiculous. Ha… I have to do a good deed for the first time in a long time.”

It’s something that might bankrupt the British economy. I felt sorry for them, so I thought I should acquire Barings Bank a little earlier.

“Where will the money come from?”

“Hmm… Since it’s come to this, I’ll have to squeeze a little more out of the Bank of England and the hedge funds. About 1.5 billion dollars would be good.”

“Then isn’t it practically the Bank of England that provided the bailout funds?”

“Ehh, it’s different. That’s that and this is this, right?”

The UK doesn’t have money, so I’m reluctantly taking on the debt instead, so they should accept it with gratitude.

Well, except for the minor fact that the reason the UK doesn’t have money is because of me, it’s morally perfect.

Ah, we didn’t know either, okay?

Anyway, Barings Bank would have suffered even greater losses and gone down an irreversible path in the original history. I cut it off early. Besides, the Bank of England got screwed in the original history too.

…….

I’m kind of nice.