If you think things are done on a grand scale in Texas, I encourage you to visit Hong Kong. I did for the first time this past April, and found myself in absolute awe. Step into the Intercontinental Hotel on the Kowloon-side at night and the landscape in front of you will give you a taste of just how big China is. And it's only going to get bigger. Especially when companies like China Construction Bank raise $8 billion USD in their IPO.

That's right; $8 billion U.S. Dollars!

$8.02 billion to be exact, for a total sale of 26.49 billion shares.

On Thursday, October 19th, China International Capital Corp., Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston announced they are set to take China Construction Bank public.

Yesterday, the offering was priced at HK$2.35 a share, or 30 cents.

When the Hong Kong markets open on October 27th, expect to see the world's largest IPO in four years.

And China's biggest, ever.

CCB Corporation is one of the 'big four' banks in the People's Republic of China.

Corporate banking, retail banking and investment banking services are their areas of focus and growth.

The company, which was founded in 1954, today has over 14,000 branches and sub-branches throughout China -- with three branches in the city of Hong Kong and two in Kowloon alone, including a wholly-owned subsidiary in Hong Kong called Jian Sing Bank Limited (JSB).

Overseas, they have branches in Singapore, Frankfurt, Johannesburg and Seoul Korea.

They offer standard banking products, credit cards, mortgage lending (about 2/3 of China's mortgage loans according to Hoovers.com) and various consumer loans. CCB's 310,000 employees had to deal with a mountain of bad debt, a multibillion-dollar bailout from the Chinese government, and shaky management before paving the way to their successful IPO. (Former CEO, Wang Xuebing, was sentenced to 12 years in prison three years ago. In addition, chairman, Zhang Enzhao, resigned on March 16, 2005, citing "personal reasons". However, a lawsuit in the United States alleges that he received a bribe of one million dollars from Alltel Information Services, for securing a contract.)

The bank's IPO prospectus highlighted its 3.91 percent nonperforming loan ratio, down sharply from a 16.98 percent ratio at the end of 2002.

Today, the 25 Finance Street, Beijing-based company has 12 percent of China's loan market, and the lowest bad-loan ratio of China's largest three state-owned banks.

Last year, Construction Bank's net income doubled to $6.1 billion (49 billion yuan).

In August, Bank of America (BAC) paid $2.5 billion for approximately 9 percent of Construction Bank.

At the IPO, BofA, which is the second-largest bank in the U.S., agreed to buy $500 million shares.

The last time investors "ate up" an IPO as large as this, it was June 2001.

The company?

Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT)

That year, the Philip Morris company raised $8.7 billion USD.

However, China Construction Bank will not be available via The New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ. The company's IPO will take place on The Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Chairman Christopher Cox was quoted by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post as saying that the bank did not list on the New York Stock Exchange because "it couldn't meet the NYSE regulatory requirements."

However, the bank said it had not applied for a listing in the U.S.

The sale drew demand for about 10 times the number of shares being offered. Institutional investors put in orders for about $60 billion worth of stock to get a piece of China's rapid economic growth, which hit 9.4% in the third quarter.

Gokul Laroia, the head of capital markets for Morgan Stanley said:

CCB's IPO lays the foundations for future bank listings and the continuing development of China's financial services sector.

Agnes Deng, fund manager at Standard Life Investments in Hong Kong added:

Obviously people have become more confident (in) Chinese banking.

People are expecting corporate governance issues are going to improve, and further improvements in risk management.

To learn more about the growth of China's financial services, visit China Construction Bank online at:

If you missed out on this one, rivals Bank of China (BCH.YY) and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC.YY) are also preparing to go public within the next year. Here in California, we think high tech, the Internet and biotechnology. Financial services companies, with sophisticated back-end technologies to support them, are critical to the success of these high tech and biotech ventures.

After all, companies like Baidu are going to need a place to put all their money.

About China Construction Bank

China Construction Bank (CCB) is a state-owned commercial bank with business focusing on medium- and long-term lending.

Headquartered in Beijing, CCB conducts operations across the territory of China as well as in major international financial centers.

CCB was founded on October 1, 1954 under the name of "People's Construction Bank of China", and later changed to "China Construction Bank" on March 26, 1996.

China Construction Bank has consistently sustained a leading position in providing comprehensive commercial banking products and services to customers across the country, especially in the areas of domestic infrastructure lending, bank card and residential mortgages. The Bank has established a strong relationship with high-value corporate borrowers and personal banking customers. In recent years, the Bank has also built a competitive position in the mutual fund sales and custodian arena. The China Construction Bank is highly recognized as one of the best financial services brand names in China. As at 30 June 2005, CCB had total assets exceeding RMB 4 trillion, 14,000 sub-branches or outlets within and outside China, 14,000 ATMs and 600 self-service banks.

The July 2005 issue of The Banker magazine ranked China Construction Bank No. 25 by Tier 1 Capital among the world's top 1000 banks.

The world's top ten banks are:

Citigroup - USA
JPMorgan Chase & Co. - USA
HSBC Holdings - UK
Bank of America - USA
Credit Agricole Groupe - France
Royal Bank of Scotland - UK
Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group - Japan
Mizuho Financial Group - Japan
HBOS - UK
BNP Paribas - France

Bank of China replaced China Construction Bank at the top of the Asia Tier 1 capital listing.

Bank of China is ranked #11 in the world.

For a list of the Top 25 banks in the world and further information about the Top 1000, please go to:

On September 7th, The Banker Awards 2005 winners were published country-by-country.

In this category, China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) was the #1 bank in China.

For a complete list country-by-country, please visit:

So, why does this story fall into the "Rugged Elegant Living" category?

Because, in addition to inspiring healthy, adventuresome and soulful living, we want to inspire you to be wealthy & wise.

As World Bank's World Development Report 2005: A Better Investment Climate for Everyone states:

Firms and entrepreneurs of all types from microenterprises to multinationals play a central role in growth and poverty reduction. Their investment decisions drive job creation, the availability and affordability of goods and services for consumers, and the tax revenues governments can draw on to fund health, education, and other services.

Their contribution depends largely on the way governments shape the investment climate in each location through the protection of property rights, regulation and taxation, strategies for providing infrastructure, interventions in finance and labor markets, and broader governance features such as corruption.

Whether we have the opportunity to get in on a world-class IPO like China Construction Bank, or take the opportunity to invest in microenterprise operations, such as Village Enterprise Fund, each one of us can play a part in the growth of health and education services, as well as poverty reduction.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "laughing all the way to the bank" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC