Word on the dealing desks has it that there is a copy of last week's cover of The Economist running off fax machines all over town.
The original cover pictures three major national leaders, two of them Asian. Their pictures come under a headline: 'Fit to rule?'.
The corrupted version of the cover going round has replaced one of the leader's heads with the visage of Jardine Fleming chairman Alan Smith.
Whether or not this edited version of the weekly magazine cover does exist, the question still hangs.
In the wake of last week's disclosures of fund management malpractice at Jardine Fleming Investment Management, speculation about Mr Smith's tenure has become heated.
Last week parent Robert Fleming and Jardine Fleming Asset Management figured at the centre of a regulatory investigation which resulted in a GBP700,000 (about HK$8.4 million) fine and the payment of US$19.3 million in compensation to investors affected by malpractice.