I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 70: The Value of One Pound (2)
[Breaking News: Sweden Hikes Short-Term Interest Rate Again!]
A dazed, doubtful voice came from beside me. Yoo Seon-jun, who had just returned from Germany, rubbed his eyes while watching the TV.
“This is... this is insane. 500%?!”
Can’t ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) blame him.
Just yesterday, Sweden’s short-term interest rate was 75%. That alone was already insane.
Seventy-five percent. Even if it’s a temporary measure that only lasts a few days, that means paying three-quarters of your principal in annual interest.
No one had expected Sweden to push rates up this far.
“This is... this is real? They’re really doing it?”
Yoo Seon-jun, who’d been studying economics for less than five years, groaned as he witnessed something no textbook had ever prepared him for.
Even seasoned veterans who’d spent decades in the field probably had their souls knocked loose, so I couldn’t blame him too much.
As someone who roughly knew the future, I calmly watched the news.
—“Beyond the short-selling damage, the derivatives market saw millions in losses in mere moments. If the Swedish central bank maintains this position for just two more days, projections say losses could climb to tens of millions...”
The short-term interest rate didn’t stay at 500% for long and quickly came back down, but that didn’t erase the losses suffered by the liquidated speculators.
For the record, I collected most of that money.
I laughed brightly.
“See, oppa? I told you I was right.”
“...”
Current profit: 500 million dollars.
***
Short-term interest rate: 500%...
No explanation needed. That’s just plain insane.
It’s like a freezing man burning banknotes to stay warm. Sweden, backed into a corner, stared with bloodshot eyes and held a knife to its own throat.
Even a 50% rate would’ve been called madness, but 500%?
You’d owe five times the principal in annual interest. Even on a monthly basis, that’s 15%. The only fitting word is insane.
Even if it’s temporary, raising short-term rates that high will obviously crush the stock market.
And not just the stock market—any business linked to interest rates could go under overnight, and margin calls would start flying. Leverage means borrowing money, and collateral drains dry at dozens of times the usual speed.
To protect the value of its currency, the Swedish central bank had chosen an extreme of extremes.
But in the original history, it hadn’t made much of a difference. What good is a “500% interest rate” if Sweden’s economy isn’t strong enough to sustain it?
After all, they hadn’t raised the base rate—only temporary short-term rates through liquidity control and lending hikes. If the speculators crushed the krona, it would be meaningless.
And most of all, back then Britain had already collapsed. A bloodied Sweden trying to fight back was just a side character. A few minor funds took a hit, but the big players still tore the krona to pieces.
But now, the timeline I’d changed... was different.
Britain hadn’t fallen yet, and as Sweden performed a public self-immolation, the swarming speculators got scared and started retreating.
And now... it was time.
Time to attack Britain.
“Short the pound.”
It was 2 PM. Lee Si-hyun and Seo Joo-eun were both off coordinating field staff, so low-ranking Choi Yeon-ha was the one assisting me at my side.
“R-Right now?”
I nodded.
“Yeah. Now.”
Britain has pride. The kind of pride you’d expect from a former empire where the sun never set. They were stubborn even about leaving the ERM.
If Sweden had already collapsed, the Bank of England might have abandoned its pride and exited the ERM quickly... but Sweden was currently tearing itself apart to crush the speculators.
‘How generous of them.’
I didn’t hit Sweden randomly. Among the weaker countries, any other would’ve surrendered and exited the ERM without resistance, and somewhere like France would’ve been too big to attack at all.
But seeing a much smaller economy like Sweden hold out even a little—now the Bank of England would start to think:
—“Huh? Maybe this isn’t as hard as we thought?”
They’d delude themselves. Maybe these hedge fund guys aren’t so scary. Maybe if we raise rates and prepare ahead of time, we can put those cocky Americans in their place...
It was a dangerous illusion.
Though she seemed momentarily unsure, Choi Yeon-ha—who feared me more than she dared show—obeyed immediately. Honestly, most of the Daehwa Securities staff had been acting like that lately.
‘Am I that scary?’
Glancing over at Yoo Seon-jun beside me, I added another instruction.
“And now that Seon-jun oppa’s back, let’s get ready to bring down Barings Bank. Send some Daehwa Investment Bank staff to the Berlin Bank and start prepping the acquisition process.”
Nick Leeson’s losses were now at 800 million dollars (up 100 million in just a few days).
Follow curr𝒆nt nov𝒆ls on fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com.
Time to light the fuse.
***
[Alpha Fund Declares 1 Billion Dollar Short on the Pound!]
[Sweden Holding On Through Pain... Estimated Economic Loss: 100 Million Dollars]
[Bank of England: If Sweden Can Do It, So Can We... Raises Rates to 15%, Pledges to Defend the Pound]
[British PM John Major: “The Invaders Will Pay the Price.”]
Ha Yeong-il calmly led the fund’s operations and placed massive short orders on the pound.
“...Do you think other funds will join the attack? It’ll be a problem if they side with Britain.”
A tall white man who served as the fund’s public face asked. Ha Yeong-il half-agreed, but it was already done.
He repeated his prepared answer like a machine.
“We’re ready. We’ve already recovered most of the money from Spain, right? The other funds that attacked Spain have also mostly pulled out. The slower ones still need a new target.”
“That may be true... but unlike us, the other funds will need more time. We’ve been prepping for this for a while now.”
That was the difference between Alpha Fund and the others.
We’d prepared far in advance, liquidated most of our stock positions, and were sitting on a pile of cash. Months ago, Ha Yeong-il had slowly converted nearly all of the fund’s assets into readily movable capital—ready to be deployed 100%.
Even after flipping our position in Sweden, we still survived shorting the krona with a billion dollars.
Because we didn’t take on heavy leverage with it.
‘When... did she start planning all this?’
Ha Yeong-il wondered. Just when had Yoo Ha-yeon put this all into motion?
He knew she’d gone on several trips to Europe. He himself had helped move large sums into Eastern Europe and Germany and acquired the Berlin Bank during that time.
She must’ve assessed Sweden’s financial policies back then... but how?
There was no answer. So Ha Yeong-il shook his head and cast the thought aside. There was no more inscrutable being in this world than her.
Better to focus on the reality he could understand.
He sighed softly and prepared for the afternoon meeting.
The British government’s belief that the pound could be defended... meant that the other funds likely saw the short’s chances of success as low.
Unlike the Spain operation, the speculative forces had pulled back.
They needed to be reignited.
.
.
.
“We took too much damage in Sweden. Britain... might be too much.”
“Well, I heard Alpha Fund actually took the opposite position in Sweden... that’s what the rumors say.”
“Mmm, we’ll try the pound short, but if it looks bad, we’ll pull out. Hope you understand.”
The overall response was negative. Not surprising, since this meeting hadn’t been part of the original plan...
‘If the plan takes even slightly too long to work... the losses will be massive.’
He had to try something. But maybe this was a waste of time.
Feeling drained, Ha Yeong-il looked at the sunset and prepared to head back to the office.
“Phew, this isn’t going to be easy. What did George Soros say?”
Back at Alpha Fund after bouncing between meetings, Ha Yeong-il asked about Quantum Fund—next in line after Alpha Fund in this short-selling war.
The white youth sighed.
“...He’s watching and waiting. Said we should’ve started with Britain. He’s asking if we’ve got any tricks left up our sleeve.”
Ha Yeong-il recalled Yoo Ha-yeon’s plan.
Bankrupt Barings to scatter the Bank of England’s resources. He didn’t know the exact numbers... but he’d been told there were at least a hundred million dollars in hidden losses.
“Well... we do have something. I’m just not sure how much impact it’ll have...”
It was hard to say.
“Phew... let’s leave it here for today and check again tomorrow. Still gotta revisit the banks that’ll lend us leverage...”
There was too much to do. The moment Ha Yeong-il’s head hit the office sofa, his consciousness began to fade.
Yoo Ha-yeon told him not to worry too much, but... how could he not?
.
.
.
“—!”
“Mmm...”
His head throbbed.
‘How long did I sleep?’
From the sunlight pouring through the window, it seemed to be morning.
Adjusting his glasses, Ha Yeong-il glanced toward the slightly open door. Fund managers working at Alpha Fund had woken him with excited cheers.
“If this isn’t something big, someone’s getting chewed out...”
He forced himself awake and tried to fix his messy hair. As soon as they noticed him stirring, glances turned his way.
“Ah! You’re awake!”
—Creak.
A few staff members came in from the next office, holding up newspapers and smiling brightly.
“Sorry! Seriously, this is really important—”
“Hahaha!! Huge news! Huge! Yeong! Take a look at this!”
“What is it?”
No way...?
—Flap.
A freshly printed edition of The Wall Street Journal greeted him.
[Massive Financial Scandal! Barings Bank Found to Have 1 Billion Dollar Loss at Singapore Office!]
[Was Barings’ Nick Leeson a Fraud All Along? The Fall of a Genius Once Crowned as Top Manager]
[Shocking! 230-Year-Old Barings Bank on the Brink of Bankruptcy! Bank of England Scrambles for Bailout]
[Pound Crisis! Bank of England Must Choose Between Saving Barings or Defending the ERM!]
I took a nap, and by the time I woke up, everything had been resolved.
