Standard Bank in trade arm sale
South Africa’s Standard Bank is in advanced talks to sell its London commodity trading business to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday. It was not immediately clear how much Standard Bank was seeking for the business, though reports of early-stage talks last year put the price tag at between $600m and $700m. A spokesman for Standard Bank said the two lenders were “jointly exploring areas of greater co-operation, including global markets and commodities”.