At that time, Li had accumulated quite a lot of business and accounting experience, so he quickly became familiar with the business and became a person trusted by the board of directors. When the chief accountant of the bank died, Li took his place. And it's done quite well.
After serving as chief accountant for a period of time, Li was appointed as assistant to the general manager. Li's uncle, Li Fook wo, general manager of Bank of East Asia, announced his retirement at the end of 1976, and proposed that another founder family representative of Bank of East Asia, Jian Yuelong, be the general manager and Li as the deputy general manager. 198 1 year, senior Jian Yuelong announced his retirement, and the board of directors elected Li as the general manager (now CEO) of the Bank.
At the age of 42, Li became the pillar of the Bank of East Asia and began to lead the Bank of East Asia into a new era of bankers.
When Li became the general manager of the Bank of East Asia, he faced a more competitive environment. Having said that, it is necessary to briefly review the overall development process of the banking industry in Hong Kong after the establishment of the Bank of East Asia, as well as the main operating characteristics and trajectory of the Bank of East Asia during this period.
Before the end of World War II, the banking industry in Hong Kong was mainly engaged in trade financing, and many banks mainly engaged in bills, remittances and remittances. However, after the war, overseas Chinese had doubts about the domestic economic situation, and countries began to restrict remittance to the mainland of China, so remittance business began to drop sharply. Remittance business is as difficult as remittance. This has dealt a serious blow to the banking industry in Hong Kong, especially Chinese banks. Fortunately, when the old advantages are lost, new opportunities will come. After the war, Hong Kong's economy began to recover and its economic structure began to transform. In particular, the rapid development of manufacturing and real estate industry has provided huge business opportunities for the banking industry.
In the great changes of the economic environment, the banking industry in Hong Kong has also undergone earth-shaking changes. On the one hand, with the fierce competition, a large number of small banks closed down, while some banks with similar strength rose rapidly, and the competition among banks became more and more fierce. On the other hand, after the 1960s, the banking industry in Hong Kong encountered an extremely harsh environment. 1965, many Chinese banks crowded out, and Hang Seng Bank was acquired by HSBC. The Bank of East Asia increased its deposits after the crisis because of its steady style and sufficient funds, and established a distinct image in Hong Kong and overseas.
The Bank of East Asia keeps up with the changes of the times and makes good use of advanced technology and ideas to innovate its operations, thus keeping it in the leading position in the industry. For example, the latest online computer system was installed at 1969, making it the first Chinese-funded financial institution in Hong Kong to adopt cutting-edge technology in its operation. 1975, launched the first Hong Kong dollar credit card-Dongmei Credit Card in cooperation with Bank of America. In addition, the bank has been conducting business with a prudent and prudent business policy, effectively safeguarding the security and steady development of the bank. After taking office, Li has to face the competition from Chinese banks and the challenges from more and more foreign banks. From the perspective of the whole society, Hong Kong was on the sensitive eve of the Sino-British negotiations, and all kinds of challenges came together, which could be described as a crisis.
Li is convinced that only by leading the Bank of East Asia to become an excellent bank can it compete with other banks. So he asked himself and his subordinates to work together at a higher level, which is more prominent than other banks. And started the business reform drastically.
The most important thing in the reform is to gather more positive forces and bring the Bank of East Asia to a strong and big new realm. During the period from the founding of the Bank of East Asia to Li's appointment as the general manager, although the bank's shares have been traded in the Hong Kong stock market since the 1930s, the whole bank has been controlled by several large families involved in the founding and is in a monopoly position. This arrangement is conducive to the formation of a stable force to ensure that banks maintain strong anti-risk ability in the initial stage of establishment and turbulent environment, but it also restricts banks from participating in competition at a higher level to a great extent. Competition needs strength. Strength can be accumulated by yourself or borrowed from the outside world. To do great things, you need both. To this end, Li actively advocated the integration of knowledge and practice, and constantly attracted external talents to join the Bank of East Asia, which effectively enhanced the overall strength of the Bank of East Asia and firmly defended its position as the largest independent Chinese bank in Hong Kong.
Li also strengthened foreign business cooperation and expanded the development space of banks. For example, in his second year as general manager (now chief executive officer), he promoted the Bank of East Asia to establish "Yintong" with a number of banking institutions, and set up ATM networks in Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen and Zhuhai. 1984 Bank of East Asia and a number of banks jointly established Xuntong Electronic Services (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. to provide electronic transfer services at retail outlets of branches; From 65438 to 0987, the Bank of East Asia became a major member of VISAInternational and MasterCardInternational, and started an independent credit card business. 1989, Bank of East Asia became one of the six founding members of Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited. Since 1995, the scale of banking business has been continuously expanded through acquisitions, such as 1995' s acquisition of United Bank of China, First Pacific Bank in 2000, and American Daxing Bank in 20001,and their businesses have been successfully integrated. Li pays attention to maintaining the good operation of banks and requires banks to have excellent corporate governance. To this end, he opened the post of senior manager of the bank, hired talented people outside several big families to hold important positions, and attached great importance to absorbing, cultivating and making good use of talents, so that the bank could expand its scale through efficient teams while maintaining stable and efficient operation.
"Every morning, senior staff and department heads will have a meeting at 8 o'clock. The management must have a clear understanding of the various businesses of the bank, be transparent, and treat employees with clear rewards and punishments. " This is the successful way for Li Bank to operate steadily and efficiently.
At the same time, Li attached great importance to establishing the excellent image of the Bank of East Asia, and actively promoted the ties and feelings between the Bank of East Asia and the people of Hong Kong, thus consolidating and deepening the reputation and reputation of the Bank of East Asia in the market. In TV advertisements, the Bank of East Asia flaunts itself as "the bank of Hong Kong people" to distinguish it from other big banks. This positioning has won the hearts of the people, making people feel cordial and warm. And they have always insisted on proving themselves with actions, not empty slogans.
The Bank of East Asia has been famous for its excellent service since its establishment. After the bank led by Li, this traditional advantage was taken to a new height. This is also closely related to Li's own personality. Many people who have dealt with Li say that he can always put himself in others' shoes with humility and gentleness. Visiting and thanking customers is his regular homework. For example, during the worst period of SARS in Hong Kong, he insisted on visiting customers every day and set aside some time to personally write thank-you letters to people he met in English and Chinese, which was Li's habit. It is often said that there are bosses and subordinates. If the boss is so considerate, the employees of Bank of East Asia will naturally be more sincere to their customers.
To serve customers well, we must have the corresponding conditions and abilities, innovate, keep pace with the times and meet the needs. This is also what Li is concerned about and good at. 1969, the computer networking launched by the Bank of East Asia to improve service efficiency, and the subsequent issuance of the first Hong Kong dollar credit card. , is the result of his personal participation. After he led the Bank of East Asia, the Bank of East Asia has also made outstanding progress in financial innovation and service capacity building.
Today, BEA's products and services cover deposits, foreign currency savings, retail investment and wealth management services, building mortgage loans, private loans, credit card products, electronic network banking services, bank insurance products, mandatory provident fund services, trade financing, syndicated loans, remittances and foreign exchange development transactions. Support the establishment of personal banking, corporate banking, wealth management, investment banking, China business and international business departments, which can flexibly meet the needs of different customers. In addition, it is famous for providing comprehensive retail and commercial banking services, and has set up the "Xianzhuo Financial Center" to provide distinguished financial services.
The Bank of East Asia not only satisfies customers by improving the service quality and efficiency of employees, but also pays attention to the application of new technologies to be closer to the needs of modern people. During the period of 1999, Bank of East Asia launched electronic online banking service, allowing customers to handle banking finance through five electronic media: Internet, mobile phone, "face-to-face phone", telephone and server. At the same time, it also launched electronic online stock trading service through East Asia Securities, becoming the first bank in Hong Kong to launch online securities trading service.
As a visionary leader, Li has a global vision. Shortly after taking office, he put the external expansion of the banking industry in a more important position and successively opened business bases outside Hong Kong. At the same time, Li also led the Bank of East Asia into other business areas, and set up a number of wholly-owned subsidiaries to provide diversified services, including: Bank of East Asia (Trust), East Asia Securities, East Asia Asset Management, East Asia Futures, Blue Cross (Asia Pacific) Insurance and Leading Finance. And through the acquisition of the relevant businesses of the three major international accounting firms, Zhuojia Professional Commerce Co., Ltd. was established in 2002, making it a comprehensive business, enterprise and investor in Greater China.
Due to his outstanding performance, Li became the vice chairman of the Bank of East Asia on 1995 and was appointed as the chairman and chief executive officer on 1997.
Under his leadership, the Bank of East Asia has not only developed into the largest independent Chinese bank in Hong Kong, but also extended its business lines to the huge mainland market, Southeast Asia, Britain and the United States and other countries and regions. Today, the Bank of East Asia Group has set up more than 200 branches and representative offices around the world, including more than 65,438+020 branches and Xianzhuo Financial Center in Hong Kong, 50 business locations in Greater China, and international networks spread all over the United States, Canada, Britain, British Virgin Islands and Southeast Asian countries, with more than 8,900 employees. As of June 30, 2007, the total consolidated assets of the Group amounted to HK$ 343.2 billion, with the total revenue of HK$ 4.478 billion and after-tax profit of HK$ 65.438+096.5438+065.438+000 billion in the first half of the year.