In each of China's major IPOs, it has become the norm to bring in a major strategic investor. The purpose of this is usually to get the average Hong Kong taxi driver excited about buying the stock. Since most taxi driver's idol is Li Ka-shing, he has frequently been the favoured choice.
However, Li has no experience of banking, and Bank of China's investment story as a bank has taken a bit of a pounding over the past year. Step forward, Standard Chartered.
The British bank, which is also one of the biggest in Hong Kong, has agreed to buy around 2.5% of Bank of China HK's IPO. The exact percentage will...