Just another M&A? Yes, and there is nothing revolutionary in this on one level. China Construction Bank, which has already partnered with Bank of America, will be buying BofA's Hong Kong subsidiary. Details in Xinhua here.

The interesting part is to contrast this with other deals, particularly when a Chinese company has gone after a U.S. company. UNOCAL comes to mind first, and in that deal only foreign assets were in play, assets that were located in the Asia-Pacific region, as I recall.

I would bet that this transaction will go under the radar in D.C., particularly since all the politicos are enjoying the election season at the moment. Will this be a road that other Chinese companies will take in the future to avoid American xenophobia? Might be smart to snap up U.S. assets in the immediate region before trying to go to the States themselves. Xenophobia is all about perception anyway, not to mention dissemination of information, so if the M&A in question takes place over here, it is doubtful that the news will make it into the U.S. papers.