China Investment

HSBC's recent announcement to extend full-day services on Saturdays and half-day services on Sundays, put its rivals in a thoughtful mood as to whether or not to follow the move in future.

However, two months before the bank's service extension plan came out, Fubon Bank (Hong Kong) decided that they will not follow HSBC.

Instead, Fubon led the way in the industry by becoming the first bank to provide extended services every Thursday until 8.30pm.

"We are not a big player and we cannot become another HSBC, so the message we need to get across the market is that we are different, creative, energetic and competitive," says Lee Jin- yi, who joined the group two years ago as chief executive and managing director of Fubon.

That was exactly when Fubon Financial, Fubon Bank (Hong Kong)'s Taiwanese parent, which offers extensive financial services on the island, first stepped into Hong Kong by acquiring International Bank of Asia in 2004. IBA started operations in the city in 1986.

Since the acquisition, Fubon Bank (Hong Kong) has grown and now operates 22 branches in the city. In a recent Fubon Bank commercial, a saleswoman in a shoe shop was depicted massaging her customer's foot before putting on for the customer her new heels.

The message is simple: From Fubon, customers can enjoy services beyond their expectations.

Lee said the message is also about what employees can expect. "Extending the bank's Thursday services represents an integration between needs of both customers and employees," Lee says. "Having our staff work on a Sunday is taking too much from them, as I believe it is important for our employees to be with their families on weekends." Lee adds that extending services on weekends will not add extra value to their customer base anyway. "You have to have a happy employee before you can have a happy customer," is the principle that Lee adheres to in running the bank.

It should be 'a piece of cake' for Lee to manage a medium-sized Fubon given his extensive experience as a banker.

Before joining Fubon Bank, Lee served as chief executive of JP Morgan's Hong Kong arm, and then as managing director of JP Morgan Chase in China. Lee also headed the corporate finance division of french investment bank BNP Paribas Peregrine (Asia) and the same division at Hongkong Banking Shanghai Corporation, the Hong Kong arm of HSBC Holdings.

Despite these credentials, Lee believes managing a commercial bank is a "delicate situation."

"In the investment banking business, there is only a winner or a loser," Lee says. "You get the deal of underwriting a company for its initial public offering or acquisition, then you win, and if you do not, you lose." Lee adds that the pace of investment banking is a lot faster and there is always a sense of urgency. But in commercial banking, there is a different approach to take, says Lee. "There is no absolute winner or loser in commercial banking," he says. "Claiming the second or third place of a market, you still get something [profit]."

It is exactly for that reason, Lee says, that bankers have to work so hard to identify a niche, which may only account for three to four percent of the market. "Our people are competitive and energetic," Lee says. But, being a Taiwan-based bank, is Fubon competitive and energetic enough to break down that political barrier to enter China?

"We are in an interesting position," Lee says. "And coming to Hong Kong gives us a different