PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - March 31

HONG KONG, March 31 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

APPLE DAILY

-- A new rule requiring banks to making voice recordings of the sale of investment products to customers will take effect in July. Bank of East Asia (0023.HK) announced that all branch offices will record such transactions over the phone or face to face with customers from early May.

MING PAO DAILY NEWS

-- China Construction Bank (0939.HK), under pressure from investors offloading its shares, has revealed that strategic shareholder, Singapore government investment firm Temasek [TEM.UL], intends to add shares in the bank.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

-- The Hong Kong government announced on Monday it had received a minimum bid of HK$30 million for the sale of a 3,292 square foot site in Sheung Shui in New Territories, triggering the first official land auction this year.

-- China Shenhua Energy (1088.HK), the country's largest listed coal producer, said it planned to slash investment in projects this year by 16.4 percent to 29.91 billion yuan.

THE STANDARD

-- Sinopec (0386.HK) said its refining division will become profitable under China's new fuel sales scheme, with 2009 first-quarter profit likely to record at least 50 percent growth from the same period a year earlier.

-- HSBC's (0005.HK) nil-paid rights are expected to plunge on Tuesday, their last trading day in Hong Kong, as thousands of investors will likely make a last-minute decision not to take up their rights under the bank's US$17.7 billion capital-raising plan.

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