Bank reshuffle raises issues at Burberry – Editor’s Letter March 1, 2015 Sir John Peace is widely admired in the City and until recently held positions as chair of both the emerging markets bank Standard Chartered and the fashion group Burberry. Until last week, those who expected him to give up one of those posts so he could give more time to the one he kept, had [...]
From Greece and Natalie Bennett to the banks and London’s skyline: Here’s what got us talking this week February 27, 2015 There was a lot of talk about a dress. And quite a bit about the llama drama. But here at City A.M. Towers, we were obsessing about plenty of other things. Greece finally managed to break the stalemate over its debt, negotiating a four month extension with Germany, and ending weeks of debate about a [...]
Bill Winters takes top Standard Chartered job: The City’s favourite adopted son takes on a risky challenge February 27, 2015 Not many investment bankers’ names are greeted with utterly unmitigated praise, particularly ones with major roles in the financial crisis. But once you ask former colleagues of Bill Winters about his qualities, it is hard to stop the flood of superlatives. “He is the best leader I have ever met. He saved the bank in [...]
New Standard Chartered boss Bill Winters to sell Renshaw Bay stake February 26, 2015 Bill Winters is understood to be looking to sell his stake in giant asset manager Renshaw Bay as he prepares to take over as chief executive of Standard Chartered. Winters, alongside Reinet Investments, owns more than half of the company. The ex-JP Morgan star set up Renshaw in 2011, attracting the backing of big names including [...]
Standard Chartered’s boardroom bloodbath: Chief exec Peter Sands and chairman Sir John Peace are out February 26, 2015 Standard Chartered delighted investors with a boardroom revolution yesterday, announcing the exit of chief executive Peter Sands, chairman Sir John Peace and four other senior directors. The troubled emerging markets specialist had come under increasing pressure to change tack, after the share price fell by half over the last two years. Sands had previously [...]
Standard Chartered share price rises following appointment of Bill Winters as chief executive February 26, 2015 Having been in the rumour mill for a while now, Standard Chartered has finally confirmed that it's appointed a new chief executive. Bill Winters will replace Peter Sands later this year. The bank made the move following continued shareholder dissatisfaction at how it was being run – returns have not been at their best recently [...]
Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Lloyds and RBS credit ratings slashed as states promise no more bailouts February 3, 2015 Britain’s biggest banks saw their credit ratings chopped back last night by Standard and Poor’s, as the agency believes the government is serious in its promise to let bad banks fail. While ratings are normally cut when a firm performs poorly, in this case the move reflects the shift in risk from the taxpayer and [...]
Standard Chartered cuts more jobs as it axes global equities business January 8, 2015 Standard Chartered, the London headquartered bank which focuses on Asia, has announced more job cuts. The bank said it's closing the unprofitable equity sales and research business. This will lead to 200 job cuts worldwide and deliver around $100m in cost savings by 2016. Dismantling its stockbroking, equity research and equity listing desks worldwide will [...]
Who’s lining up in the CEO sack race? Ladbrokes’ odds on Standard Chartered’s Peter Sands January 4, 2015 There were a lot of interesting moves at the top in 2014, with chiefs taking P45s left right and centre – Harriet Green at Thomas Cook, Simon Calder at Mothercare and Tesco’s Philip Clarke to name but a few. But who will be saying sayonara in 2015? Well, sadly we don’t have a crystal ball [...]
Standard Chartered appoints new directors in financial crime crackdown following £425m fines December 10, 2014 Embattled bank Standard Chartered yesterday appointed a new committee of directors to combat financial crime. It also hired another nine experienced execs from across the business, finance and regulatory world to beef up its compliance functions. StanChart is still hosting investigators sent by US regulators in the wake of its $667m (£425m) fines in [...]