Hundreds of thousands of people queued outside banks Wednesday hoping to cash in on the Internet mania generated by the offer of shares in Li Ka-shing's Tom.com venture.

About 1.5 million applications to buy shares in the company were received, many handed in during chaotic scenes at 10 designated HSBC branches ahead of the noon deadline.

It was estimated the shares would be at least 1,500 times oversubscribed, well over the Hong Kong record for an initial public offering.