As expected, given the lower price-to-book value that rival Citigroup spent acquiring KorAm Bank, the latest deal did not go down well with some analysts. Nevertheless, Standard Chartered remains silent in the face of criticism, perhaps trying to send out the message that 'you can say whatever you want, but a win is a win and we'll take it'.

But back to our point. While keeping quiet, the bank seems to have adopted the traditional Hong Kong way of celebrating a good business deal: treating all friends to something nice.

This is especially true of the older generation of businessmen who, as my grandfather would always tell me, believe that it is mandatory to do this as a token of gratitude to those who have given help along the way. Not to mention that something like a victory banquet will be a good chance to show off your achievement.

So, just two days after the deal's announcement, Standard Chartered held its own version of a 'victory banquet' in the form of a set of new time deposit interest rates offered to select customers. The latest offer ranges from 1 per cent for three-month deposits to 1.5 per cent for 24-month deposits.

However, even if your pocket is as deep as Standard Chartered's, there are only limited seats at a banquet. Hence, the invitations have not been sent out to everyone on the street.

The special offer is only for the bank's priority banking customers - those with a minimum deposit of $500,000 - while the funds must be over $100,000 and brought from other financial institutions.

hsbc licks its wounds

As Standard Chartered was making its victory parade, it was simply business as usual for HSBC, the defeated party in the KFB bid.

While it might be thought that losing out in Korea not once, not twice, but thrice in a year would be a huge blow to one's morale, the world's second-largest bank seemed not too bothered at all.

After all, for a bank of its size, there are always other markets on which to concentrate.

And, where better to lick your wounds and regroup than on your home turf, which is what HSBC did by announcing this week that it would carry out major upgrades on two of its existing products.

Perhaps, the more significant is the extension of its currency exchange service.

From now on, the bank's customers can exchange 11 major currencies - the Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, Singapore and US dollars, as well as the euro, yen, yuan, sterling, Thai baht and Swiss franc at anytime through the internet, phone banking and the interactive voice response system.

The bank also unveiled its enhanced FirstCare medical insurance plan, which extends supplementary benefit options, such as guaranteed lifetime renewal, to lower-tier customers. These options previously applied only to its privileged policyholders.

Judging from these moves, would it be reasonable to suggest HSBC's next goal may be to run E*trade and AIA out of the market?

why not try nikko's tack?

Last week, we mentioned the timely launch by International Bank of Asia of a two-hour wire-transfer service between Hong Kong and Taiwan in view of the heightened cross-strait tensions.

While we were lucky to have escaped complaints from both governments and the bank itself, we could not resist the opportunity to politicise the arrival of another product.

Nearly a year after the plan was first drawn up, Japanese fund house Nikko Asset Management made history yesterday with the launch of its China A-shares Equity Fund, which made it the first qualified foreign institutional investor to provide an open-ended A-share fund for Japanese investors.

Given the tense relations between the two countries, which China's ambassador to Japan Wang Yi succinctly described as at 'a critical crossroads', diplomats may want to consider using the fund as an example to defuse tension.