SCB, Your CCB Bank ;)

SCB motto is Here For Good.

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Standard Chartered CEO Faces ‘Pivotal’ Test as Profit Declines

<cite class="byline"> By Richard Partington - Aug 5, 2014 </cite>
Standard Chartered Plc Chief Executive Officer Peter Sands, facing reports of disgruntled investors, is set to post the bank’s second straight drop in first-half profit today.
The London-based lender, which makes about three-quarters of its earnings in Asia, may report first-half adjusted pretax profit of about $3.3 billion, down 20 percent from $4.1 billion a year earlier, based on the average of 11 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The bank flagged the profit drop on June 26 as Sands called the first half “disappointing,” sending the shares sliding.
Sands, 52, the longest-serving CEO of any major European bank, is under pressure to show he can steer Standard Chartered through slowing economic growth in Asia after more than a decade of expansion. The Financial Times said last month that some investors had called for his ouster, prompting Standard Chartered’s board to say it was united in its support of Sands.
“Rightly or wrongly, there are people questioning Peter Sands,” said Nick Brind, a London-based money manager at Polar Capital Holdings Plc, who helps oversee about $13.7 billion and sold his shares in the bank more than a year ago. “Standard Chartered are in the naughty box at the moment.”

Share Slide

Standard Chartered’s shares have dropped about 11 percent this year. That makes the bank the second-worst performer among Britain’s five largest lenders, trailing only Barclays Plc.
The lender forecast in June that full-year profit, excluding goodwill impairments and swings in the value of the bank’s own debt, will be lower than 2013. Sands has said Standard Chartered (STAN) plans to return to profit growth in the second half of 2014, compared with the year-earlier period. The bank last reported an increase in semi-annual pretax profit in the first six months of 2012.
“Results day will be pivotal in delivering confidence” that Sands can meet that target, Deutsche Bank analysts led by Jason Napier wrote on July 17. They have a hold recommendation on the shares.
The FT reported on July 23 that Chairman John Peace has been urged to search for a new CEO, with Temasek Holdings Pte, the Singaporean state-owned investment company that owns about 18 percent of the bank, pressing for a clearer succession plan, citing people it didn’t identify. Temasek declined to comment, as did Aberdeen Asset Management Plc (ADN), which holds 7.7 percent of Standard Chartered and was said by the FT to seek Sands’s ouster.

Financial Markets

The bank saw revenue of $10.9 billion in Asia Pacific last year, down from $11.4 billion a year earlier, as expansion weakened in China. The bank has also been hurt as clients move away from trading interest-rate and foreign-exchange products.
“I actually don’t think management is the issue,” said Joe Dickerson, an analyst at Jefferies International Ltd. who rates the stock underperform. “The second half will be better for Standard Chartered on the expectation that financial-markets revenue will improve.”
Sands said in June that growing markets including China and Africa were offset by “weaker performance” in nations such as India, Korea and Singapore. Standard Chartered took a $1 billion writedown on its Korean business last year, helping to end more than a decade of earnings growth.
The International Monetary Fund revised its July forecast for emerging market economic growth this year to 4.6 percent, compared with an April forecast for 4.9 percent. China’s economy is seen growing 7.4 percent this year, less than the 7.5 percent previously forecast, the IMF said July 24.
“Banks largely reflect the economies they are in,” said Brind. “It’s going to take a little bit of time before they can tighten things up.”
HSBC Holdings Plc, the largest foreign bank in China by assets as well as Europe’s largest bank, this week reported a 12 percent drop in pretax profit, hurt by its securities unit. Barclays posted a 50 percent drop in first-half investment bank profit last week as fewer clients traded in cash equities, rates and currencies.




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[h=1] [/h]
Standard Chartered probes fresh allegations

August 12, 2014 in Banking/Finance, Fraud/Corruption







BY Matt Atkins

In response to fresh US allegations over money laundering, the UK bank Standard Chartered will soon begin trawling its extensive data banks for signs of questionable activity, in an effort to avoid additional penalties. Standard Chartered clears approximately two million US dollar transactions each month. The process of sifting through the data will therefore prove a mammoth task.

The UK bank came under scrutiny in 2012, when flaws in its anti-money laundering program were uncovered by a monitor imposed by the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS). The DFS and federal authorities took separate actions against Standard Chartered at the time fining the bank a total of $667m for violating US sanctions by hiding transactions linked to Iran.

Standard Chartered is again under scrutiny from the DFS, the bank disclosed in an earnings announcement last week. A penalty of more than $100m and an extension of the monitorship is possible.

The bank's issues stem from a problematic transaction-monitoring software system installed in the 2000s. The system is intended to flag suspect transactions, however the so-called 'detection scenarios' that tell the system what activity to flag for human review have not been properly calibrated, according to a Reuters source. Most of the scenarios have now been corrected, said the source, and efforts are underway to fix the others before the bank moves to a new system early in 2015.

The news comes in the same week that a senior executive at Standard Chartered slammed regulators for treating banks and their employees unfairly. "Banks have been asked to play the role of policing anti-money laundering … [but when] we have a lapse we don't get treated like a policeman, we are treated like a criminal," said Jaspal Bindra, who runs Standard Chartered's business in Asia.

The bank said the remarks by Mr Bindra reflected his personal views. Standard Bank's CEO, Peter Sands, said when he was presenting the bank's results, that he respected the views of regulators.

SCB CCB got away lightly. BNP Paribas kena fine USD9 billion for same problem. And the problem is oil trades in USD. If its traded in other currencies, then there would be no problem.

This bank a lot of Ah Nehs. They love hiring them.

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syed putra said:

SCB CCB got away lightly. BNP Paribas kena fine USD9 billion for same problem. And the problem is oil trades in USD. If its traded in other currencies, then there would be no problem.

Click to expand...

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GoldenPeriod said:

This bank a lot of Ah Nehs. They love hiring them.

Click to expand...

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[h=1]UAE central bank says StanChart liable to legal action[/h]
Thu, Aug 21 2014
By Stanley Carvalho and Matt Scuffham
ABU DHABI/LONDON (Reuters) - Banking group Standard Chartered Plc is liable to legal action in the United Arab Emirates after it agreed to close some customers' UAE accounts in an anti-money laundering settlement with U.S. regulators, the UAE central bank said on Thursday.
Under the settlement, announced on Tuesday, the bank agreed to pay a $300 million fine, end high-risk relationships with small- and medium-sized business clients in the UAE, and suspend the processing of dollar-denominated payments for some clients at its Hong Kong unit.
The threat of further legal action in the UAE is a further complication for StanChart Chief Executive Peter Sands, who is fighting to retain the backing of investors after a series of transgressions and a decline in the bank's earnings.
"We have noted the announcement made by the UAE Central Bank. We always work with our regulators to achieve the right outcomes," the lender said in an e-mailed statement.
Shares in the bank were down 1 percent by 3.15 p.m. BST.
In the UAE, between 1,400 and 8,000 Standard Chartered accounts are expected to be affected, the central bank said, adding that it would examine every account to identify any violations.
The British-based bank will be liable to legal action by the account owners "because of the material and moral damage which is falling on them", the central bank said.
It added that its Consumer Protection Unit was willing to consider complaints from affected account holders. However it did not say if it believed any action was likely by account holders.
The central bank said that while Standard Chartered had not fulfilled U.S. regulatory requirements, its UAE branches had committed "no significant violations" of international money laundering rules, such as the standards of the Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body.
Standard Chartered said on Tuesday, after the settlement was announced, that it was in any case seeking to leave the business of serving small- and medium-sized clients in the UAE as part of a broad effort to sharpen its strategic focus.
"The UAE remains one of Standard Chartered’s leading franchises globally and the move does not reflect a decreased focus on the country," it said in a statement.
The UAE, including Dubai, is the top financial hub in the Middle East and like other banking centres, has been under pressure from Washington to crack down on money-laundering as well as sanctions-busting by Iranian businesses.
In 2011 Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank, since re-named Noor Bank, halted a business in which it channelled billions of dollars from Iranian oil sales through its accounts, as Washington stepped up sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear plans.
In May last year, the UAE revoked the licences of two local money exchange companies for non-compliance with regulations including rules against money laundering.
(Writing by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Jason Neely and David Holmes)

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[h=1]StanChart in advanced talks to sell HK consumer unit to Australia's Pepper: sources[/h]
Tue, Sep 23 2014
(Reuters) - Standard Chartered (STAN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) is in advanced talks to sell its Hong Kong consumer finance business to finance firm Pepper Australia Pty Ltd in a deal that could fetch between $500 million to $700 million, people familiar with the deal said.
Standard Chartered is sharpening its focus on global corporate banking and high net worth clients. High-risk, unsecured lending to Asian consumers doesn't fit with its current outlook.
The sale of the Hong Kong consumer finance unit is among the initial few divestures being pursued by Standard Chartered as it tries to address share price underperformance and difficulties in markets such as South Korea.
Earlier this year, Standard Chartered sold two businesses in South Korea to Japanese lender J Trust (8508.T: Quote, Profile, Research) for $148 million as part of the London-based bank's attempt to boost profitability and simplify its Korean business.
Pepper and Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises were the top two contenders for the Standard Chartered unit PrimeCredit, racing ahead of other bidders after two bidding rounds, the people familiar with the deal said.
The people declined to be identified because the details of the talks are not public.
The deal is subject to approval from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city's de facto central bank.
"They were picked as a preferred bidder a couple of weeks ago, and are now in the process of going through the HKMA approval process," one person familiar with the matter said.
The bank is going through a tough period following big losses in Korea, a slowdown in investment banking and the impact of tougher regulations. It warned in June that profit would fall in 2014 for a second straight year.
Standard Chartered is also trying to sell its Swiss private bank as it focuses more on Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The bank's CEO Peter Sands told a post-earnings briefing last month that the consumer finance business in Hong Kong was a very good business, but it considers the unit "non-strategic."
A spokeswoman for Standard Chartered declined to comment, while an external spokeswoman for Pepper also declined to comment.
Pepper is a specialty mortgage lender, third-party loan servicer and an asset manager, with businesses in the United Kingdom and Australia.
If it wins the deal, Pepper is expected to run the business with the help of Bank of East Asia Ltd (0023.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), by transferring PrimeCredit's mortgage book to the Hong Kong bank, sources said in July.

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[h=1]Big Pay Off for Big Bank[/h][h=2]Resulting in … what exactly?[/h][h=3]Irwin M. Stelzer[/h]August 23, 2014 12:00 AM



Congratulations to you, Tom Montag, named sole chief operating officer of Bank of America this past Wednesday. And first thing Thursday morning asked to sign a check to the government for $16,650,000,000 to settle complaints that the bank sold flawed mortgage securities in the days preceding the financial crisis. But don’t feel too badly. Only $9.65bn will go to various regulatory agencies. Some, $7bn will go toward writing down the balances of homeowners struggling to meet mortgage payments, and to demolish foreclosed homes in blighted neighborhoods. Nice of you to arrange this gigantic transfer of wealth from your shareholders to the government’s coffers and to stressed homeowners and communities, with that relief arriving in time for them to decide which party to vote for in the mid-term congressional elections 73 days hence. Do all of this and the Justice Department might not file criminal charges against you and the bank, which it has reserved the right to do.
Brian Moynihan, Bank of America’s CEO, has reason to feel aggrieved. The mortgage mis-selling was done largely by Merrill Lynch and Countrywide before BofA acquired them -- at the urging of the government, which feared that failure of those institutions would exacerbate the financial crisis. Timothy Geithner, former secretary of the New York Fed and the U.S. Treasury writes in his recently published memoirs that BofA’s acquisitions “eased fears of a collapse.” This settlement, which brings total fines paid by the bank to an estimated $70bn, “allows us to continue to focus on the future,” Mr. Moynihan told the press. Not a bad thing.
All of which makes the $300 million Standard Chartered forked over to regulators in New York State earlier this week for poor monitoring of money laundering by Asian and Arab clients seem a mere slap on the wrist, even though it follows an earlier $667 million fine for violating sanctions rules. Worse still, CEO Peter Sands cannot follow Mr. Moynihan in announcing that StanChart can now look to the future. The settlement bars the bank from accepting any new customers with dollar-clearing needs without the specific approval of the regulators. Analysts are saying that unless Sands reverses the bank’s 20 percent drop in first-half profits, paying the fine might just prove to be his last act before he clears his desk for a successor.
Politicians and regulators who are cutting a swath through bank earnings know two things. One is that the public doesn’t like bankers any more than it did twenty years ago, when polls showed that only 36 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of banks. That figure today is a not-strictly comparable 27 percent, putting bankers a bit behind auto mechanics (29 percent) who aren’t exactly trusted when they shake their heads sadly and say that you need a completely new something-or-other, but ahead of lawyers (20 percent), car salespeople (9 percent), members of Congress (8 percent), and lobbyists (6 percent) in public esteem, according to a recent Gallup poll of Americans’ opinion of bankers and other tradesmen. So if you are a vote-seeking politician, fining banks is a good way to increase your popularity, especially if some of that money trickles down to your constituents, preferably close to Election Day.
The second thing regulators and politicians know is that bankers rarely miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity to soften the public’s negative view of them and their profession. Yes, bankers do have to turn down excessively risky loans sought by potential home-buyers and small businessmen -- not a popularity winner. But no, they don’t have to do all they can to make certain that the public sees them in an unfavorable light. Which is what they have been doing ever since the head of Goldman Sachs told a congressional committee that he is “doing God’s work,” implying that he and bankers had arranged a long-sought merger between God and Mammon.
The pity of it is that the banking industry now has an opportunity to tamp down public antipathy by ending opposition to the more sensible proposed regulations and concentrating on looking to the future, which needs a good deal of looking to if the industry is to survive the winds of change that are buffeting it.
There is little doubt that the volumes of regulations include many that are just plain silly, and many that are counter-productive. But neither is there any doubt that some are needed if the threat to the financial system posed by banks that remain too-big-to-fail is to be reduced -- it never can be eliminated entirely, since the woes that befall one big bank contain the seeds of the downfall of other big banks with which they are inevitably interconnected. Yet the bankers persist in fighting the wrong battles at the wrong time.
Now does not seem a good time to whine about the adverse effect of regulation on bank profits, even though there is little doubt that Dodd-Frank and the tens of thousands of pages of regulations it has spawned and will spawn are making life difficult. The $40.24 billion in net income that U.S. banks earned in the past quarter was the second largest total in 23 years, according to researchers at SNL Financial, only a tad below the $40.36 billion record in the first quarter of 2013.
Nor, in the face of near-record earnings and headlines about mortgage-market abuses, money laundering, and poor control procedures, does it seem wise for the largest banks to seek relief from what the Wall Street Journal calls “a central provision” of the Dodd-Frank law. That provision, generally known as the Volcker rule, requires banks to reduce their risk by disposing of their investments, estimated to be in the range of tens of billions of dollars, in private equity and venture capital funds. Reports from Washington are that the banks’ lobbyists are seeking a seven-year delay in the implementation of this aspect of the Volcker rule. If they get the regulatory relief they seek, and if there is even a mild repeat of the recent near-meltdown in the financial system, a break-up of the big banks would be the inevitable solution to too-big-to fail.
Nor, given mounting concern, justified or not, about rising income inequality, and stagnant middle class wages, is it a propitious moment for major banks to use their rising profits to raise compensation, including bonuses, of recent college graduates to something like the $140,000 compensation experts Johnson Associates estimates, while reducing work schedules. “There’s little left to control your banker envy….Young employees can have their cake (money) and eat it too (life-style balance),” joked (?) Bloomberg Businessweek. The banks say they had to do it to meet competition for talented entry-level employees. For those of us who believe in markets that is reason enough, and surely better than the decision of Silicon Valley CEOs to form a no-poaching cartel that is forcing them to settle claims of thousands of employees whose salaries were depressed. The cartel was put together after Steve Jobs threatened to declare “war” on any company making offers to his staff.
And yet, and yet … If necessity was indeed the mother of the invention of the salary-increases, better not to whine about the pressure new regulations put on profits.
Meanwhile, the hold of the too-big-to-fail banks on the financial system is being loosened by the emergence of boutique lending institutions, peer-to-peer lending, and regional banks. No “disrupter” with the impact Uber has had on the taxi industry is in sight, but just a few years ago no one had ever heard of Uber.

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StanChart readies to close thousands of UAE accounts as U.S. deadline looms[/h]
Mon, Oct 20 2014
By Thomas Arnold and Archana Narayanan
(Reuters) - Standard Chartered has notified thousands of UAE small and medium enterprise customers it is closing their accounts as it responds to pressure from US regulators to cut its risks following an anti-money laundering settlement.
"We regret to notify you that Standard Chartered Bank will no longer be able to provide banking services to you, and your account(s) will be closed 30 days from the date of this letter," the London-listed bank wrote in a letter to customers dated Oct. 9.
The letter - seen by Reuters - has angered UAE customers, who say they have not been given enough time to close their accounts.
Under a settlement agreed with the New York State Department of Financial Services in August, the bank was fined $300 million and given 90 days to end high-risk relationships with SMEs in the UAE and suspend processing of dollar-denominated payments for some clients at its Hong Kong unit.
The UAE central bank said in August that between 1,400 and 8,000 Standard Chartered accounts in the country were expected to be affected by the U.S. settlement.
"The bank is putting a lot of peoples’ livelihoods at risk as businesses like ours have salaries and suppliers to pay," said Louay al-Samarrai, managing director of Active Public Relations in Dubai, who has banked with Standard Chartered for 13 years.
"I need more than 30 days notice as it takes a minimum of a few weeks to set up a new account with another bank."
In a statement, Standard Chartered said it would honor existing borrowing agreements with customers with loans, allowing them to pay back outstanding amounts under the existing repayment timetable. It would make every effort to minimize the inconvenience, it said.
Those affected by Standard Chartered’s exit have an annual sales turnover of between $1 million and $35 million, it added.
The bank had initially considered selling part of the SME business, sources familiar with the matter said in August, and several local banks Reuters spoke to had expressed a potential interest in buying the assets.
But the tight deadline imposed by the US regulator and the risk to potential buyers of handling accounts that could lead to further regulatory penalties proved stumbling blocks to a sale.
"In an ideal world you would sell it and get some value but in the overall scheme of things it’s not that large an asset. The key driver is to keep the regulator happy,” one of the sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Standard Chartered declined to comment on any potential plan to sell the SME business.

SCB and HSBC are sama sama ...both will do China's biddings. Temasek owns SCB because China wants it to.

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• <time itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2014-10-28T09:26+0000">Oct 28, 2014 09:26 </time>
• By Neil Hodgson<!---->

<!-- end of widget id: 6805523, name: pageTools, view: articleRefreshMetadata -->
<!-- start of widget id: 6805604, name: storyContent, view: articleRefresh --> [h=2]Standard Chartered aiming for return to sustainable growth[/h]
<figure class="inline-image clearfix ">
<figcaption>Standard Chartered Bank chief executive Peter Sands </figcaption></figure><!-- end of widget id: 6805619, name: relatedContents, view: pictures --> <!-- start of widget id: 7940688, name: relatedContents, view: videos -->

<!-- end of widget id: 7940688, name: relatedContents, view: videos --> <!-- start of widget id: 6805627, name: storyContent, view: articleRefresh --> Liverpool FC shirt sponsor Standard Chartered is to make £250m in cost savings as it aims to return to “sustainable, profitable growth”, it said today.
And it said it expects underlying profits for the second half will be lower than last year.
In a trading update covering the third quarter of 2014 the Asia-facing banking group revealed figures for income and pre-tax profits for the quarter, and nine-month period so far.
Income for the quarter was up 1% to £2.8bn compared with the same time last year, although pre-tax profits of £951m compared with £1.137bn a year ago.
Income for the nine month period was 3% down at £13.8bn, and pre-tax profits fell from £3.676bn to £2.981bn.
Group chief executive Peter Sands said: “While trading conditions remained subdued, we did see a modest return to year-on-year income growth during the quarter.
“We are executing our refreshed strategy, including reprioritising investments, exiting non-core businesses, de-risking certain portfolios and reallocating capital.
“To create more capacity for investment in the many opportunities in our markets, we are taking further action on costs, targeting more than £249m in productivity improvements for 2015.”


He said the group is also making progress in reshaping its Korea operations, which have proved a drain previously.
He added: “While some of these actions will impact near term performance, they are crucial to getting us back to a trajectory of sustainable, profitable growth.”
Looking ahead, the group said: “Despite a challenging year, our clients remain active and our balance sheet remains strong and diverse.
“Income was up in the quarter but the market environment remains challenging.
“Given somewhat subdued income momentum and the level of loan impairment experienced in the third quarter, we now expect that underlying profits in the second half will be lower than the same period last year, partly due a higher UK bank levy, regulatory and restructuring costs.
“We are taking action on multiple fronts, both to respond to near term challenges and to deliver against our refreshed strategy.
“We will provide further details of these actions during our investor presentations in November. Additionally, given the enhanced disclosure in our interim management statements, the group will no longer issue trading updates prior to close periods.”

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[h=2] [/h][h=1]Standard Chartered feels pinch as shares take a tumble[/h][h=3]MORE than £2billion was wiped off the value of Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered after its shares tumbled following a gloomy update.[/h]<section class="photo"> Standard Chartered shares fell to a five-year low [GETTY]
</section><!-- ENDMAINIMAGE --><section class="text-description">The shares fell 96½p to a five-year low of 998½p after profits for the three months to the end of September fell 16 per cent to £931million.
It blamed subdued trading conditions and said it remained “watchful” in the once booming markets of India and China.
</section><section class="pull-quote on-right"></section><section class="text-description">The results were dragged lower by higher bad debts as clients were hit by the downturn in the commodities sector.
Standard Chartered also said it faced higher regulatory charges and warned profits for the second half of 2014 would be lower than a year earlier.
The shares have dived from 1837p in the past 18 months as the former stock market darling has seen 10 years of record earnings come to a shuddering halt.
It said it was exiting non-core businesses and would cut more than £248million of costs for 2015.
Chief executive Peter Sands added: “Whilst some of these actions will impact near term performance, they are crucial to getting us back to a trajectory of sustainable, profitable growth.”
</section>

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[h=1]StanChart shares tumble to five-year low as profit slumps[/h]Company aims to cut $400 million more from costs next year

Reuters | <news:geo_locations> Hong Kong </news:geo_locations> October 28, 2014 Last Updated at 15:24 IST





Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered Plc warned investors that profits would fall in the second half of this year, after quarterly earnings were hit by a surge in bad loans and higher regulation and compliance costs.

Standard Chartered said that as bad debts rise in key markets like India and China, it will step up its restructuring plan and aims to cut $400 million more from costs next year.

Its London-listed shares tumbled more than 8% to their lowest level for five years. Analysts said the grim results showed the tough task facing Chief Executive Peter Sands, as he tries to turn around the bank after its 10 years of record earnings came to a shuddering halt last year.

"Not only has credit started to deteriorate and will be the driver of the next earnings downgrade cycle, but volume, revenue and cost trends are weak," said Joseph Dickerson, analyst at Jefferies.

He estimated average earnings forecasts for this year will come down by about 15% and will also be cut for 2015.

"The (Q3) numbers indicate the continuing challenges we face," CEO Sands told reporters on a conference call.

"We are redoubling our focus on costs ... achieving this will require further rationalisation of our branches, more standardisation and automation and reconfiguration or exit of certain businesses."

Operating profit for the July-September quarter fell 16% to $1.5 billion in the same period a year ago.

StanChart said it now expected underlying profits in the second half to be lower than the same period last year, partly due to higher regulatory and restructuring costs.

It will also pay about $375 million under a UK bank tax in the fourth quarter, up from $266 million last year.

The bank had previously said it expected profits to fall in 2014 for a second straight year, but that earnings in the second half would be higher than a year ago.

BAD DEBTS RISE

Standard Chartered has been hit by losses in South Korea and a slowdown in growth in many of its core emerging markets, as well as weak trading revenues.

It said impairments for the third quarter rose to $539 million from $250 million in the same period last year, as a small number of corporate and institutional clients were hammered by weak commodity markets. The bank took a $175 million provision earlier this year to cover its exposure to suspected commodities fraud in China.

It said it was particularly "watchful" of potential problems in India, China and for commodity exposure more broadly, and had tightened its underwriting criteria.

"China is going through some pretty radical changes ... and we have to be very watchful in the way we manage our business and exposure, simply because there's just so much going on in the Chinese economy," Sands said.

He said there had been no noticeable impact on the bank from recent protests in Hong Kong.

Standard Chartered is also under heavy regulatory scrutiny, having warned on Aug 6 that it faced its second fine in two years from New York's financial regulator for problems in its anti-money laundering controls.

The bank's problems have increased focus on its capital position. It had a common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 10.7% at the end of June, above minimum requirements.

Finance Director Andy Halford said the bank hopes to improve that position.

By 0915 GMT the bank's London shares were down 8.4% at 1,003 pence, after falling to 996p, their lowest level since April 2009. The European bank index was up 0.4%.

StanChart's shares have fallen 26% this year, against a 5% decline in the benchmark FTSE 100 index.

"Standard Chartered will struggle to drive returns above cost of capital in the next 12-18 months. Structural issues around competition and reliance on low RoA (return on assets) businesses are biting," said Bernstein analyst Chirantan Barua.






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[video=youtube;QQfhd5iFzeI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QQfhd5iFzeI[/video]