The man bankers talk to

On the evening of June 17 Frank Ning appeared very calm. The chief executive of China Resources gave no hint that next morning the newspaper headlines would be trumpeting his company's purchase of 50% of Hongkong Chinese Bank for HK$2 billion (US$258 million). Ning's company has a market capitalization of HK$42 billion, next month it will be rated by Standard & Poor's. Hong Kong's investment bankers say he's the best red-chip manager around. In an interview, Steven Irvine asked: