(, ) is a
British Bank headquartered in
London with operations in more than fifty countries. It operates a network of over 1,600 branches (including subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures) and employs almost 60,000 people.
Despite its British base it has few customers in the
United Kingdom and 90% of its profits come from the
Asia Pacific Region,
South Asia , the
Middle East and
Africa .
Because the bank's history is entwined with the development of the British Empire its operations lie predominantly in former British colonies, though over the past two decades it has expanded into countries that have historically had little British influence. It aims to provide a safe regulatory bridge between these developing economies.
It now focuses on consumer, corporate and institutional banking, and on the provision of treasury services – areas in which the Group had particular strength and expertise.
Standard Chartered is listed on the
London Stock Exchange and the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is among the top 20 constituent members of the
FTSE 100 Index .
The Standard Chartered Group was formed in 1969 through a merger of two banks: The
Standard Bank Of South Africa founded in 1863, and the
Chartered Bank Of India, Australia And China , founded in 1853.
As its operations came under threat from nationalization programmes in the countries in which it was present in the 1970s, the bank sought expansion in developed countries, particularly the USA.
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It also proposed a takeover of
The Royal Bank Of Scotland Group , which would have given it a substantial base in its home country, but this was prevented by a counter-bid from the
HSBC and then blocked by competition authorities in 1981. When a hostile takeover bid was made for the Group by
Lloyds Bank in 1986 this was successfully defeated. After this, Standard Chartered entered a period of change.
The bank made provisions against third world debt exposure and loans to corporations and entrepreneurs who could not meet their commitments. It then began a series of divestments as it sought to re-focus itself on emerging markets.
It divested its stake in the
Standard Bank Of South Africa in 1987 in response to anti-apartheid pressure and today that bank is one of its major competitors in Africa.
In 2000, Standard Chartered acquired
Grindlays Bank from
ANZ Bank . The move caused some overlap in operations, for instance, giving it a second banking license in
Qatar and an additional four branches in
Bahrain . It sold both. Local investors bought Grindlays Bahrain and renamed it
Commercial Bank Of Bahrain . However, in the
UAE Standard Chartered integrated the Grindlays' branches into its existing operation there.
Grindlays also had branches in areas Standard Chartered didn't want. For instance, rather than adding the
Palestinian Territories to the list of places in which it did business, Standard Chartered chose to close Grindlays’
Nablus and
Ramallah branches. It also closed its branch in
East Jerusalem and its representative office in
Tel Aviv . In
Greece , Standard Chartered sold Grindlays'
Athens and
Pireaus branches to
Aspis Bank .
The move's main benefits were an increased presence in private banking and a rapid expansion in India and Pakistan. Standard Chartered retained Grindlays' private banking operations in
London and
Luxembourg and the subsidiary in
Jersey , all of which it integrated into its own private bank. This now serves high net worth customers in
Hong Kong ,
Dubai and
Johannesburg under the name Standard Chartered Grindlays Offshore Financial Services. It did, however, sell the Geneva branch and private banking operation to Prudential-Bache International.
In
India , Standard Chartered integrated most of Grindlays' operations, making Standard Chartered the largest foreign bank in the country, despite Standard Chartered having cut some branches and having reduced the staff from 5500 to 3500 people. Among the branch reductions was the sale in 2002 of Grindlays' branch in Srinagar to
Jammu And Kashmir Bank and its
Shimla and
Darjeeling branches to
ICICI Bank .
In
Pakistan Standard Chartered merged in Grindlays' operations, making Standard Chartered not only the largest foreign bank in the country, but the only one with branches in all four provinces.
Australia
Brunei Darsussalam
China
Cambodia
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited
Indonesia
Japan
SC First Bank (in Korea)
Laos
Malaysia
Mauritius
Philippines
Singapore
South Korea
Taiwan
Standard Chartered Bank (Thailand)
Vietnam
Afghanistan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
India
Iran
Jordan
Lebanon
Nepal
Oman
Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan)
Sri Lanka
UAE
Qatar
Switzerland
Turkey
Jersey
The UK (where the group headquarters are located)
The Falklands (classified as "Europe" for Standard Chartered purposes).
Botswana
Cameroon
Gambia
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Kenya
Nigeria
South Africa
Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
On 15th April
2005 , the bank acquired
Korea First Bank , beating HSBC in the bid. Since then the bank has rebranded the branches as SC First Bank.
Standard Chartered completed the integration of of its
Bangkok branch and Standard Chartered Nakornthon Bank in October, renaming the new entity
Standard Chartered Bank (Thailand0 . Stadard Chartered also formed strategic alliances with Fleming Family & Partners to expand private wealth management in Asia and the Middle East, and acquired stakes in
ACB Vietnam,
Travelex ,
American Express Bank in
Bangladesh and
Bohai Bank in
China .
On 9th August 2006
Standard Chartered announced that it had acquired an 81% shareholding in the
Union Bank of
Pakistan in a deal ultimately worth $511 million. This deal represented the first acquisition by a foreign firm of a Pakistani bank and the merged bank,
Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) , Pakistan's sixth largest bank.
On 22 October, 2006
Standard Chartered announced that it has received tenders for more than 51 per cent of the issued share capital of Hsinchu International Bank (“Hsinchu”). On completion of the offer,
Standard Chartered will have majority ownership of
Hsinchu ,
Taiwan ’s seventh largest private sector bank by loans and deposits as at 30 June, 2006.
On 22 August, 2007
Reuters stated that Standard Chartered had bought a 49 percent of an Indian brokerage firm (UTI Securities) for $36 million in cash from Securities Trading Corporation of India Ltd., with the option to raise its stake to 75 percent in 2008 and, if both partners agree, to 100 percent by 2010. UTI Securities offers broking, wealth management and investment banking services across 60 Indian cities. http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=mergersNews&storyID=2007-08-23T114515Z_01_BOM269605_RTRIDST_0_UTI-STANCHART-UPDATE-1.XML.
Standard Chartered's management has not ruled out further acquisitions.
From April 2007 1 Basinghall Avenue will serve as the bank's new global headquarters in the City of London. Moving from nearby Aldermanbury Square the new building will consolidate Standard Chartered's operations in London, which are currently spread across three offices. The bank moved to its current building in 1992, after leaving their historic building on Bishopsgate. 1 Basinghall Avenue will provide two hundred thousand square feet of office space and is being constructed by Stanhope PLC.
Today the bank is a leading player throughout the
Developing World .
Standard Chartered Bank is one of the three banks issuing
Banknotes For Hong Kong (
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited became a note-issuing bank from
1 July 2004 ), the other two being the
Bank Of China (Hong Kong) and
The Hongkong And Shanghai Banking Corporation .
The bank supports
Marathon s in many cities, including London (The City Run),
Jersey ,
Singapore ,
Dubai ,
Lahore ,
Mumbai ,
Hong Kong and
Nairobi .
