First off is redemption. We just heard that the board of American International Assurance (AIA) has named Edgar Cheng Wai-kin and Antony Leung Kam-chung as independent non-executive directors.

Nothing surprising about Dr Cheng's appointment given his credentials as a former chairman of the stock exchange and founding chairman of the Hong Kong Securities Institute.

The more intriguing appointment is that of Mr Leung, the financial secretary from 2001 to 2003.

We are sure he will serve AIA well, given his background in investment banking with stints at JP Morgan Chase and Citicorp.

Still, Mr Leung, who is married to and has two children with mainland diving queen Fu Mingxia, did leave the government in a less than amicable atmosphere. He stepped down after the so-called cargate scandal - when it was revealed that he had bought a car shortly before announcing a vehicle tax increase.

Mr Leung has apparently redeemed himself, even serving as chairman of Heifer Hong Kong, a charity that provides livestock to poor families.

Perhaps, with the AIA appointment Mr Leung can now have insurance cover for his entire household - presumably including that controversial Lexus.

eldon banks on transformation

Now, on to transformation. In an apparent bid to secure international respectability and prestige, the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority has just tapped David Eldon, the former chairman of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, to head its board.

The agency is responsible for the development and supervision of the regional onshore financial free-zone set up in 2004.

The appointment is a homecoming of sorts, as Dubai was the place where Mr Eldon started his 37-year career with HSBC Group in 1968.

After stints in the Middle East, Hong Kong, the mainland and Malaysia, Mr Eldon was appointed group chairman and a director of HSBC Holdings in 1999.

Actually, Mr Eldon, who retired from HSBC Group in May last year, has not really uprooted himself from Hong Kong; he remains a director of MTR Corp, chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and is a council member of the Trade Development Council.

At 61, Mr Eldon continues to reinvent himself.

yam squares billions with humility

During yesterday's financial services panel hearings at the Legislative Council, Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong displayed a sense of humility rare for a person who controls hundreds of billions of dollars.

Citing a recent speech by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who made a jibe about bankers playing golf over the Easter weekend instead of pursuing business deals with mainland authorities, legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing asked Mr Yam if he thought that Mr Tsang was implying that local bankers were lazy.

With cat-like agility, Mr Yam answered: 'You cannot create a conflict between me and the chief executive.'

Citing the HKMA's status as a non-government agency that uses a private-sector pay system, Ms Lau said the de facto central bank was like a monster. To which Mr Yam replied, with apologies to Deng Xiaoping: 'It doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice.'

Meow!