this issue should be beyond dollars and cents. there should be international condemnation. iran has become even more arrogant than saddam was day by day. don't get distracted by the subplots. scb is funding a rogue state and violating sanctions
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| [h=1]StanChart lowers India CAD projection to $45 bn from $71.8 bn in FY14[/h] PTI October 10, 2013 Standard Chartered Bank has substantially lowered the current account deficit (CAD) projection to $45 billion from earlier estimates of $71.8 billion after trade deficit sharply declined in September. "India's trade deficit for September was $6.7 billion, much lower than our estimate of $10.5 billion. This was the best monthly print in the last 30 months," StanChart said in a report. "The 2013-14 CAD could be close to half of its 2012-13 level after this improvement in the trade balance. Policies to address the CAD seem to have worked and investors will now have one less macro challenge to worry about in India," it said. With softer trade deficit numbers for the last four months, the second quarter trade deficit has dropped to $30 billion from $50.5 billion in the first quarter, it said. "We now lower it to $45 billion (2.5 per cent of GDP) from 4 per cent of GDP ($71.8 billion) previously. We maintain our capital-flow forecast of $65 billion for 2013-14," StanChart said. However, in light of expectation of a sharp correction in the CAD, the balance of payments (BoP) forecast is now $20.6 billion, much better than the initial BoP projection of $6.8 billion. With regard to gold imports, StanChart said after measures to curb imports were announced in July, total gold imports for August and September fell to only about $1.5 billion. These are the lowest readings in 52 months. However, gold imports may pick up as India enters the festival season in October-November. It is possible that gold imports will return to a monthly pace of $3-4 billion, the global financial services major said. Rupee depreciation and slow domestic growth are affecting import demand for certain capital goods. For the April-August 2013 period, machinery imports and project goods imports fell 12 per cent and 38 per cent respectively. |
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Ho say leow kena owned by 3rd World Africans.
[h=1]Barclays to Standard Chartered Await Zimbabwe Ownership Plan[/h][h=2] By Godfrey Marawanyika October 17, 2013
Zimbabwe said it hasn’t finalized plans to force foreign banks, including Barclays Plc (BARC) and Standard Chartered Plc (STAN), to sell majority stakes in their local units to black Zimbabweans.
“I am still working on what needs to be done and how it will be done,” Indigenization Minister Francis Nhema said in a phone interview today. “Nothing has been finalized as to the compliance issues.”
Nhema said he plans to meet with foreign banks, which under the country’s law must sell or cede 51 percent of their operations to black Zimbabweans or the state-owned National Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Board. Foreign-owned lenders won’t immediately be asked to comply with that law, the state-run Herald reported earlier today, citing the minister.
Barclays, Standard Chartered and the local units of South Africa’s Standard Bank Group Ltd. (SBK) and Nedbank Group Ltd. (NED) have all submitted proposals to comply with the law. Zimbabwe Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono said in May that the plans to force systemically important foreign banks to sell majority stakes to black Zimbabweans were “uninformed.”
[/h]
[h=1]Barclays to Standard Chartered Await Zimbabwe Ownership Plan[/h][h=2] By Godfrey Marawanyika October 17, 2013
Zimbabwe said it hasn’t finalized plans to force foreign banks, including Barclays Plc (BARC) and Standard Chartered Plc (STAN), to sell majority stakes in their local units to black Zimbabweans.
“I am still working on what needs to be done and how it will be done,” Indigenization Minister Francis Nhema said in a phone interview today. “Nothing has been finalized as to the compliance issues.”
Nhema said he plans to meet with foreign banks, which under the country’s law must sell or cede 51 percent of their operations to black Zimbabweans or the state-owned National Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Board. Foreign-owned lenders won’t immediately be asked to comply with that law, the state-run Herald reported earlier today, citing the minister.
Barclays, Standard Chartered and the local units of South Africa’s Standard Bank Group Ltd. (SBK) and Nedbank Group Ltd. (NED) have all submitted proposals to comply with the law. Zimbabwe Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono said in May that the plans to force systemically important foreign banks to sell majority stakes to black Zimbabweans were “uninformed.”
[/h]
Ho kwa boh ho jiak.
[h=1]Will Neil Woodford Buy Standard Chartered PLC?[/h]
<!-- /#content-header --> By Motley Fool | Fri, 18th October 2013 - 12:11
<!-- article start --> Let’s begin with a quick trip down Memory Lane to put Standard Chartered (<cite title="" class="beautytips-module-processed beautytips-processed" bt-xtitle="London Stock ExchangeThe UK's main exchange for buying and selling shares in public limited companies.">LSE</cite>:STAN) (NASDAQOTH: SCBFF.US) into context.
The table below shows the FTSE banks at 11 September 2007, before the financial crisis hit.
<tbody>
</tbody>Source: UK StockChallenge
Eighteen months later: Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley had been nationalised, wiping out shareholders; Alliance & Leicester had been sold for a song to Santander; Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds (strong-armed into taking on bankrupt HBOS) only survived by a mega-billions bailout from the taxpayer, and Barclays narrowly avoided the same fate.
HSBC proved more resilient, but saw its market value more than halved from £102bn to £48bn. Standard Chartered was the only bank to come through the period with any real credit. The company continued to grow its revenue, earnings and dividend; and moved up from being the FTSE’s number six bank at 11 September 2007 to number two at 20 March 2009.
[h=3]Woodford’s recent words[/h]A few months ago, ace City investor Neil Woodford, who famously got out of banks before the financial crisis, flatly denied claims by the Daily Mail that he was eyeing up an investment in Lloyds Banking.
However, Woodford went on to say: “Some banks have made better progress in clearing up their balance sheets, however, having not participated as fully in the excesses that led to the financial crisis”.
Woodford gave an example of what, in his opinion, was an investable bank. It wasn’t Standard Chartered, that ship that had sailed most steadily through the financial storm, but HSBC.
Nevertheless, Woodford was cautious about HSBC’s exposure to Asia, due to “the risks associated with the slowdown in activity that is now evident in that region, China in particular”.
While a sizeable part of HSBC’s business is in Asia, Standard Chartered’s reliance on the region is massive. Indeed, it was the good fortune of minimal exposure to the US, UK and Europe that served Standard Chartered so well during the financial crisis.
As things stand, with Woodford’s current concerns about Asia, it looks to me like HSBC is at least closer to his idea of ‘investability’ than Standard Chartered.
> G A Chester does not own any shares mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares in Standard Chartered.
[h=1]Will Neil Woodford Buy Standard Chartered PLC?[/h]
<!-- /#content-header --> By Motley Fool | Fri, 18th October 2013 - 12:11
<!-- article start --> Let’s begin with a quick trip down Memory Lane to put Standard Chartered (<cite title="" class="beautytips-module-processed beautytips-processed" bt-xtitle="London Stock ExchangeThe UK's main exchange for buying and selling shares in public limited companies.">LSE</cite>:STAN) (NASDAQOTH: SCBFF.US) into context.
The table below shows the FTSE banks at 11 September 2007, before the financial crisis hit.
| FTSE rank | Bank | Market cap (£bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | HSBC Holdings | 102.2 |
| 6 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 52.5 |
| 7 | Barclays | 39.7 |
| 14 | HBOS | 33.7 |
| 15 | Lloyds TSB | 30.0 |
| 20 | Standard Chartered | 21.0 |
| 71 | Alliance & Leicester | 4.2 |
| 97 | Northern Rock | 2.8 |
| 122 | Bradford & Bingley | 2.2 |
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</tbody>
Eighteen months later: Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley had been nationalised, wiping out shareholders; Alliance & Leicester had been sold for a song to Santander; Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds (strong-armed into taking on bankrupt HBOS) only survived by a mega-billions bailout from the taxpayer, and Barclays narrowly avoided the same fate.
HSBC proved more resilient, but saw its market value more than halved from £102bn to £48bn. Standard Chartered was the only bank to come through the period with any real credit. The company continued to grow its revenue, earnings and dividend; and moved up from being the FTSE’s number six bank at 11 September 2007 to number two at 20 March 2009.
[h=3]Woodford’s recent words[/h]A few months ago, ace City investor Neil Woodford, who famously got out of banks before the financial crisis, flatly denied claims by the Daily Mail that he was eyeing up an investment in Lloyds Banking.
However, Woodford went on to say: “Some banks have made better progress in clearing up their balance sheets, however, having not participated as fully in the excesses that led to the financial crisis”.
Woodford gave an example of what, in his opinion, was an investable bank. It wasn’t Standard Chartered, that ship that had sailed most steadily through the financial storm, but HSBC.
Nevertheless, Woodford was cautious about HSBC’s exposure to Asia, due to “the risks associated with the slowdown in activity that is now evident in that region, China in particular”.
While a sizeable part of HSBC’s business is in Asia, Standard Chartered’s reliance on the region is massive. Indeed, it was the good fortune of minimal exposure to the US, UK and Europe that served Standard Chartered so well during the financial crisis.
As things stand, with Woodford’s current concerns about Asia, it looks to me like HSBC is at least closer to his idea of ‘investability’ than Standard Chartered.
> G A Chester does not own any shares mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares in Standard Chartered.
Upsizing is an illusion?
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[h=1]StanChart Private Bank Assets Stagnate in Asian Wealth Hunt[/h]<cite class="byline"> By Sanat Vallikappen - Oct 17, 2013 </cite>
Standard Chartered Plc (2888)’s Asian private-bank asset growth has stagnated this year as the lender focused on wealthier clients and investment returns were curtailed by volatility in regional financial markets.
Assets managed in Asia excluding the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East have stayed at about $35 billion, the same as at the end of 2012, said Rajesh Malkani, the private bank’s head of Northeast and Southeast Asia. Globally, Standard Chartered started increasing from late last year the investment threshold for private-bank clients to $2 million, double the previous level, he said.
“What we don’t want to end up doing is creating a lower-end private bank,” Malkani said in an interview in Singapore last week. “As clients become more informed, you have to keep raising your own bar.”
A Cap Gemini SA (CAP) and Royal Bank of Canada report last month signaled wealth of Asian millionaires may top North America as soon as next year. Asian stocks outside Japan slumped earlier this year, while currencies have tumbled amid an economic slowdown in China and India and growing concern the U.S. Federal Reserve will curb its stimulus program.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index excluding Japan is up 2.5 percent this year, compared with a more than 17 percent gain for the MSCI World Index. The Asian gauge slumped 12 percent in 2013 to its June low, driving 10-day volatility to the highest level since December 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
India’s rupee and Indonesia’s rupiah slumped more than 10 percent against the dollar this year, making them the third- and fourth-worst performing emerging-market currencies, the data show.
[h=2]Relationship Managers[/h]Standard Chartered, which got more than 70 percent of its 2012 pretax profit from the Asia-Pacific region, re-entered private banking in 2006, after selling out to Swiss Bank Corp. in 1996.
The $860 million acquisition of American Express Co. (AXP)’s banking unit in March 2008 gave Standard Chartered about $22.5 billion of assets under management and 120 relationship managers. Today, it manages $50 billion globally and has 450 relationship managers, almost 240 of whom are based in Singapore and Hong Kong, Malkani said.
Standard Chartered’s private bank has “continued to grow at a very decent clip” if clients with less than $2 million were not excluded from the calculation and the market losses ignored, he said.
[h=2]Productive Assets[/h]Its $35 billion of assets ranked it as the Asia-Pacific region’s 12th-largest private bank in 2012, according to a study by Private Banker International released last week. UBS AG (UBSN), Switzerland’s largest lender, was the region’s biggest with $215 billion, while Citigroup Inc. was second with $210 billion, according to Private Banker.
“We need to look at how productive” a private bank’s assets under management are in terms of revenue and profits, said Malkani. “AUM for the sake of AUM means nothing.”
Standard Chartered’s private bank runs at a cost-to-income ratio “at the lower end of the industry range,” said Malkani, without disclosing numbers.
Global private banks had an average cost-to-income ratio of 0.69 in 2012, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said in a June report. The average for Asia was 0.83, according to a September report from the consultant.
Asians with at least $1 million in investable assets are expected to see their riches climb to $15.9 trillion by 2015 from $12 trillion last year, according to Cap Gemini and Royal Bank of Canada’s 2013 Asia-Pacific Wealth Report released Sept. 25. North American high net-worth individuals held $12.7 trillion in 2012, the report showed.
[h=2]Manager Overload[/h]Standard Chartered is focusing on a more wealthy tier of clients to generate higher fees and cover the rising cost of offering more “in-depth service” to increasingly knowledgeable wealthy individuals, Malkani said. Currently, the optimal number of clients per relationship manager should be 30, down from 50 a few years ago, he said, which would add to costs.
“Ultimately, a relationship manager loaded with too many clients is not going to be able to provide the right level of service and advice,” said Malkani.
The lender’s clients with investments of $100,000 to $2 million are serviced by its priority banking division, and those with $25,000 to $100,000 are serviced by the preferred banking unit, Malkani said.
Instead of moving down to the priority division, some existing clients “have topped up” to stay with the private bank, he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sanat Vallikappen in Singapore at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chitra Somayaji at [email protected]
®2013 BLOOMBERG L.P. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
<noscript>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&amp;amp;c2=3005059" height="1" width="1" alt="*"/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</noscript> <!-- START Nielsen Online SiteCensus V6.0 --> <!-- COPYRIGHT 2010 Nielsen Online --> <noscript> &lt;div&gt; &lt;img src="//secure-us.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/m?ci=us-905417h&amp;amp;cg=0&amp;amp;cc=1&amp;amp;ts=noscript" width="1" height="1" alt="" /&gt; &lt;/div&gt; </noscript> <!-- END Nielsen Online SiteCensus V6.0 -->
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[h=1]StanChart Private Bank Assets Stagnate in Asian Wealth Hunt[/h]<cite class="byline"> By Sanat Vallikappen - Oct 17, 2013 </cite>
Standard Chartered Plc (2888)’s Asian private-bank asset growth has stagnated this year as the lender focused on wealthier clients and investment returns were curtailed by volatility in regional financial markets.
Assets managed in Asia excluding the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East have stayed at about $35 billion, the same as at the end of 2012, said Rajesh Malkani, the private bank’s head of Northeast and Southeast Asia. Globally, Standard Chartered started increasing from late last year the investment threshold for private-bank clients to $2 million, double the previous level, he said.
“What we don’t want to end up doing is creating a lower-end private bank,” Malkani said in an interview in Singapore last week. “As clients become more informed, you have to keep raising your own bar.”
A Cap Gemini SA (CAP) and Royal Bank of Canada report last month signaled wealth of Asian millionaires may top North America as soon as next year. Asian stocks outside Japan slumped earlier this year, while currencies have tumbled amid an economic slowdown in China and India and growing concern the U.S. Federal Reserve will curb its stimulus program.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index excluding Japan is up 2.5 percent this year, compared with a more than 17 percent gain for the MSCI World Index. The Asian gauge slumped 12 percent in 2013 to its June low, driving 10-day volatility to the highest level since December 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
India’s rupee and Indonesia’s rupiah slumped more than 10 percent against the dollar this year, making them the third- and fourth-worst performing emerging-market currencies, the data show.
[h=2]Relationship Managers[/h]Standard Chartered, which got more than 70 percent of its 2012 pretax profit from the Asia-Pacific region, re-entered private banking in 2006, after selling out to Swiss Bank Corp. in 1996.
The $860 million acquisition of American Express Co. (AXP)’s banking unit in March 2008 gave Standard Chartered about $22.5 billion of assets under management and 120 relationship managers. Today, it manages $50 billion globally and has 450 relationship managers, almost 240 of whom are based in Singapore and Hong Kong, Malkani said.
Standard Chartered’s private bank has “continued to grow at a very decent clip” if clients with less than $2 million were not excluded from the calculation and the market losses ignored, he said.
[h=2]Productive Assets[/h]Its $35 billion of assets ranked it as the Asia-Pacific region’s 12th-largest private bank in 2012, according to a study by Private Banker International released last week. UBS AG (UBSN), Switzerland’s largest lender, was the region’s biggest with $215 billion, while Citigroup Inc. was second with $210 billion, according to Private Banker.
“We need to look at how productive” a private bank’s assets under management are in terms of revenue and profits, said Malkani. “AUM for the sake of AUM means nothing.”
Standard Chartered’s private bank runs at a cost-to-income ratio “at the lower end of the industry range,” said Malkani, without disclosing numbers.
Global private banks had an average cost-to-income ratio of 0.69 in 2012, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said in a June report. The average for Asia was 0.83, according to a September report from the consultant.
Asians with at least $1 million in investable assets are expected to see their riches climb to $15.9 trillion by 2015 from $12 trillion last year, according to Cap Gemini and Royal Bank of Canada’s 2013 Asia-Pacific Wealth Report released Sept. 25. North American high net-worth individuals held $12.7 trillion in 2012, the report showed.
[h=2]Manager Overload[/h]Standard Chartered is focusing on a more wealthy tier of clients to generate higher fees and cover the rising cost of offering more “in-depth service” to increasingly knowledgeable wealthy individuals, Malkani said. Currently, the optimal number of clients per relationship manager should be 30, down from 50 a few years ago, he said, which would add to costs.
“Ultimately, a relationship manager loaded with too many clients is not going to be able to provide the right level of service and advice,” said Malkani.
The lender’s clients with investments of $100,000 to $2 million are serviced by its priority banking division, and those with $25,000 to $100,000 are serviced by the preferred banking unit, Malkani said.
Instead of moving down to the priority division, some existing clients “have topped up” to stay with the private bank, he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sanat Vallikappen in Singapore at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chitra Somayaji at [email protected]
®2013 BLOOMBERG L.P. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
<noscript>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&amp;amp;c2=3005059" height="1" width="1" alt="*"/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</noscript> <!-- START Nielsen Online SiteCensus V6.0 --> <!-- COPYRIGHT 2010 Nielsen Online --> <noscript> &lt;div&gt; &lt;img src="//secure-us.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/m?ci=us-905417h&amp;amp;cg=0&amp;amp;cc=1&amp;amp;ts=noscript" width="1" height="1" alt="" /&gt; &lt;/div&gt; </noscript> <!-- END Nielsen Online SiteCensus V6.0 -->
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- <small>October 15, 2013, 4:40 PM ET</small>
[h=3]ByEnda Curran[/h]Standard Chartered PLC is facing calls to focus on improving return on capital instead of revenue growth, as economic slowdowns in key emerging markets hit its bottom line.
After a decline in first-half profit, the bank revealed a plan last month to aggressively expand lending to small and medium-size businesses in emerging markets by 45% over the next five years.
Some analysts say Standard Chartered would be better served by focusing on boosting return on capital—a measure of how well a company does on existing investments—which would reassure investors at a time when bad loans are on the rise.
“We believe shareholder returns at Standard Chartered could continue to be flat, as they have been for the last five years, if it continues to pursue a growth mandate,” Berenberg Bank analysts wrote in a note last week.
<dl class="wp-caption "><dt class="wp-caption-dt">
Once a darling of emerging-market bulls, Standard Chartered outperformed most peers in the decade until 2012, helped by strong economic growth in Asia, a weak U.S. dollar and robust asset growth. Though it has its headquarters in London, it draws around 90% of its operating profit from emerging markets and three-quarters of its revenue from Asia.
After gliding through the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the bank has been hurt as some of Asia’s key economies have slowed, driving up bad loans. Meanwhile, rivals have stepped up the competition for transaction services, one of the bank’s core offerings.
Net profit fell 24% in this year’s first half compared with the year-earlier period, and the lender is expected to deliver a cautious outlook when it updates investors later this month.
In Hong Kong, Standard Chartered’s shares have slumped 7.4% this year, while the Hang Seng Index has gained 3%. The bank’s London-listed stock was down 6.6% this year as of Monday’s close, while the FTSE 100 was up 10.3%.
Standard Chartered faces “a number of cyclical headwinds that are likely to put pressure on revenues,” the Berenberg analysts wrote, warning that the bank is vulnerable to a strengthening of the U.S. dollar, which would hurt earnings from emerging markets.
“We argue these [headwinds] could potentially lead to the company issuing new capital if it continues to pursue its growth strategy,” they said.
In an email, Standard Chartered indicated it was comfortable with its current focus. “We believe that the long-term fundamentals of emerging market economies, the underlying demographic processes, urbanization and industrialization are still driving GDP growth,” the bank said. “These economies don’t all rise and fall simultaneously.”
In citing challenges for Standard Chartered, analysts point to an end to the easy money that helped feed Asia’s economies and asset growth in recent years. Expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon begin winding down its monetary stimulus resulted in a reversal of capital flows from emerging-market Asia earlier this year, exposing weaknesses in many of the economies Standard Chartered depends on for earnings, and sending emerging-market currencies plummeting against the dollar.
The International Monetary Fund this month cut its 2013 growth forecasts for emerging Asia, slashing its outlook for Southeast Asia by six percentage points to 5.0%. India’s economy is now expected to grow by 3.8% this year, it said, down 1.8 percentage points from its previous forecast. Overall, Asia’s emerging markets are likely to grow 6.3% this year, it said, compared with the 6.9% it forecast as recently as July.
Barclays lowered its recommendation on Standard Chartered’s stock in August to “equal weight” from “overweight,” warning of the risk from slowdowns in countries such as Indonesia and India, given their large current-account deficits and heavy reliance on foreign capital.
Nonetheless, a strong balance sheet and signs of stabilization in Asia’s economies in recent months have supported some views that the worst may be over and that its earnings could surprise on the upside.
Citigroup’s analysts reiterated a “buy” rating on the stock this month.
But any significant turnaround in earnings will likely take a while. Bad debts grew 27% on year in the first half and will continue to weigh on profits. Loan impairments are tipped to rise in markets including India, while South Korea remains a trouble spot.
“Standard Chartered’s results in Korea will likely remain depressed through 2014,” Citi analysts wrote.
Standard Chartered’s margins are also being pressured by growing competition for one of the bank’s core offerings, transaction services, as big global banks and other regional lenders step up their efforts. Transaction banking involves meeting companies’ basic banking needs with services like cash management and cross-border transactions. While the margins are thin, growing volumes have made the sector more attractive at a time that investment-banking revenues suffer.
“Pricing pressure continues to come more from regional upstarts than traditional heavyweights,” J.P. Morgan analysts said in a note.
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0.1% growth versus 0.2% inflation?
[h=1]Standard Chartered revises China's 2013 GDP growth to 7.6 pct[/h]
Xinhua | Agencies
Published on October 24, 2013 14:19
China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast has been raised to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent for 2013, according to a latest Standard Chartered research report.
The report, released late Wednesday, also forecast GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2013 to reach 7.5 percent year on year.
The revision came after government data released last week showed GDP growth accelerated to 7.8 percent in the third quarter, up from 7.5 percent in the second, with the economy expanding 7.7 percent in the first nine months of the year.
Meanwhile, Standard Chartered revised up its inflation forecast for China to 2.7 percent year on year for 2013 from 2.5 percent. It also forecast an average inflation rate of 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter.
Government data showed the country's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, stood at an average 2.5 percent in the first nine months, which was well below the government's full-year target of 3.5 percent.
[h=1]Standard Chartered revises China's 2013 GDP growth to 7.6 pct[/h]
Xinhua | Agencies
Published on October 24, 2013 14:19
China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast has been raised to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent for 2013, according to a latest Standard Chartered research report.
The report, released late Wednesday, also forecast GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2013 to reach 7.5 percent year on year.
The revision came after government data released last week showed GDP growth accelerated to 7.8 percent in the third quarter, up from 7.5 percent in the second, with the economy expanding 7.7 percent in the first nine months of the year.
Meanwhile, Standard Chartered revised up its inflation forecast for China to 2.7 percent year on year for 2013 from 2.5 percent. It also forecast an average inflation rate of 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter.
Government data showed the country's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, stood at an average 2.5 percent in the first nine months, which was well below the government's full-year target of 3.5 percent.
9% or could be more?
I remember that Temasek has some Standard Chartered shares. Anyone know how big a stake they have
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[h=1]Credit Suisse Reiterates Underperform Rating for Standard Chartered PLC (STAN)[/h] October 24th, 2013 • 0 comments • Filed Under • by ABMN Staff
Filed Under: Market News
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Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Credit Suisse in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, AnalystRatingsNetwork.com reports. They currently have a GBX 1,350 ($21.83) price target on the stock. Credit Suisse’s price target indicates a potential downside of 10.00% from the company’s current price.Shares of Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) traded up 1.57% on Thursday, hitting GBX 1523.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,741,356 shares. Standard Chartered PLC has a one year low of GBX 1385.36 and a one year high of GBX 1860.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is GBX 1484.18 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 1530.93. The company’s market cap is £36.838 billion.
A number of other firms have also recently commented on STAN. Analysts at Maybank Kim Eng reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Standard Chartered PLC in a research note to investors on Thursday. They now have a GBX 1,506.39 ($24.36) price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Citigroup Inc. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Standard Chartered PLC in a research note to investors on Wednesday. They now have a GBX 1,775 ($28.70) price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Standard Chartered PLC in a research note to investors on Tuesday. They now have a GBX 1,330 ($21.51) price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 1,699 ($27.47).
Standard Chartered PLC is the holding company. The Company operates globally and is principally engaged in the business of retail and commercial banking and the provision of other financial services.
[h=1]The enemy of my enemy is my friend?
Congress moves to stamp out money laundering, tax dodging and corruption[/h]23rd October 2013
Global Witness applauds Representatives Waters (D-CA) and Maloney (D-NY), who later today will introduce two pieces of legislation that would make it much harder for the corrupt and other criminals to misuse American companies and launder dirty money into American banks. It would enable the Obama Administration to implement its G8 commitment to enhance transparency of the real people who own and control companies.
“Corrupt politicians, rogue regimes, tax dodgers and other money launderers need two things to move their illicitly-acquired funds: a bank willing to take their money and secretive shell companies to hide their identity,” said Stefanie Ostfeld, Senior Policy Advisor at Global Witness. “If passed, the bills introduced today would go a long way to solving these two problems,” she added.
The Holding Individuals Accountable and Deterring Money Laundering Act would strengthen U.S. anti-money laundering laws and provide regulators with better enforcement tools, including by making it easier for prosecutors to target individual bankers.
“Recent high profile banking scandals, including those involving HSBC, Wachovia and Standard Chartered demonstrate that the U.S. anti-money laundering framework isn’t working,” said Ostfeld. “If we are serious about stopping banks from prioritizing profit by accepting suspect funds, we need to change the incentives. Senior bankers need to face personal consequences for getting it wrong, and banks should risk substantial fines for breaking the law. The bill is a great first step.”
Passage of the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act would require companies to disclose their ultimate owners when the company is set up, and keep this information up to date. This would make it much harder for money launderers to hide their identity behind webs of shadowy companies to stash their ill-gotten gains in banks.
“Shining a light on the ultimate owners of companies would stop the U.S. from being a haven for dirty money from around the world. This would be transformative for millions of people living in resource rich developing countries, where government revenues are all too often siphoned offshore by corruption and tax evasion facilitated by phantom firms,” said Ostfeld.
/Ends
Contacts:
Washington, DC: Stefanie Ostfeld, [email protected], +1 202 621 6674, +1 202 577 5858
London: Robert Palmer, [email protected], +44 20 7492 5860
Notes to editors
Congress moves to stamp out money laundering, tax dodging and corruption[/h]23rd October 2013
Global Witness applauds Representatives Waters (D-CA) and Maloney (D-NY), who later today will introduce two pieces of legislation that would make it much harder for the corrupt and other criminals to misuse American companies and launder dirty money into American banks. It would enable the Obama Administration to implement its G8 commitment to enhance transparency of the real people who own and control companies.
“Corrupt politicians, rogue regimes, tax dodgers and other money launderers need two things to move their illicitly-acquired funds: a bank willing to take their money and secretive shell companies to hide their identity,” said Stefanie Ostfeld, Senior Policy Advisor at Global Witness. “If passed, the bills introduced today would go a long way to solving these two problems,” she added.
The Holding Individuals Accountable and Deterring Money Laundering Act would strengthen U.S. anti-money laundering laws and provide regulators with better enforcement tools, including by making it easier for prosecutors to target individual bankers.
“Recent high profile banking scandals, including those involving HSBC, Wachovia and Standard Chartered demonstrate that the U.S. anti-money laundering framework isn’t working,” said Ostfeld. “If we are serious about stopping banks from prioritizing profit by accepting suspect funds, we need to change the incentives. Senior bankers need to face personal consequences for getting it wrong, and banks should risk substantial fines for breaking the law. The bill is a great first step.”
Passage of the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act would require companies to disclose their ultimate owners when the company is set up, and keep this information up to date. This would make it much harder for money launderers to hide their identity behind webs of shadowy companies to stash their ill-gotten gains in banks.
“Shining a light on the ultimate owners of companies would stop the U.S. from being a haven for dirty money from around the world. This would be transformative for millions of people living in resource rich developing countries, where government revenues are all too often siphoned offshore by corruption and tax evasion facilitated by phantom firms,” said Ostfeld.
/Ends
Contacts:
Washington, DC: Stefanie Ostfeld, [email protected], +1 202 621 6674, +1 202 577 5858
London: Robert Palmer, [email protected], +44 20 7492 5860
Notes to editors
- Global Witness investigations have consistently highlighted the reluctance of major banks to turn away suspect funds and have detailed how weaknesses in the global anti-money laundering system have allowed corrupt politicians to move their illicitly-acquired loot with a high degree of impunity.
- In December 2012, HSBC Bank USA and HSBC Holdings signed a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice and agreed to pay $1.9 billion in its settlement with U.S. authorities. According to legal documents for the case, HSBC admitted that it failed to apply legally required money laundering controls to $200 trillion in wire transfers alone, in a three year period, and that at least $881 million in drug trafficking proceeds, including proceeds of drug trafficking by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico and the Norte del Valle Cartel in Colombia, were laundered through HSBC Bank USA. Despite HSBC’s massive failures in anti-money laundering compliance, to date, there have been no criminal prosecutions.
- The Obama Administration committed to create registries of the ultimate owners of companies at the G8 in June. The Obama Administration also committed to advocate for legislation that would require meaningful disclosure of beneficial ownership information in the U.S. Open Government Partnership National Action Plan and the Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.
- Global Witness has documented how corporate secrecy in the U.S. and around the world fundamentally undermines global anti-money laundering laws. Global Witness’ research has revealed that corrupt foreign politicians and pariah regimes exploit the secrecy provided by anonymous American shell companies to access the U.S. financial system. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has also exposed how easy it is for foreign officials to mask their identity behind U.S. shell companies so they can stash their ill-gotten gains in American banks. A World Bank report found that the U.S. was the favorite destination of corrupt politicians trying to set up shell companies and a Griffith University study ranked many U.S. states among the easiest jurisdictions in the world to form a company without revealing the identity of who ultimately owns and controls it.
Money laundering remediation exercise? 
[h=1]Standard Chartered Hired 2,000 Compliance and Legal Staff in 3 Years[/h]
By LIANNA BRINDED : Subscribe to Lianna's RSS feed | October 29, 2013 8:05 AM GMT
However, Standard Chartered's chief financial officer Richard Meddings says headcount is down by about 2,000 from a year ago. (Photo: Reuters)
Standard Chartered has hired around 2,000 people to work in compliance and legal functions over the last three years despite paring back on its employee headcount overall.
Speaking on an investor's call, following Standard Chartered's interim management statement, the bank's chief financial officer Richard Meddings also revealed that overall headcount has actually fallen by 2,000 from a year ago, as it aims to manage costs.
In March this year, Standard Chartered announced it cut its bonus pool by 7% to pay for the raft of fines, after unveiling its full year 2012 results.
Shoring Up Compliance
Meanwhile the bank, which makes more than 90% of its profits in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, was forced to strengthen its compliance provisions after the bank was found by regulators to have hidden at least a quarter of a trillion US dollars' worth of transactions linked to Iran, which is subject to stringent US sanctions.
In August last year, Standard Chartered's shares plunged to their lowest level in four years when New York state authorities threatened to remove the bank's US licence, accusing it of "acting as a rogue institution" in its dealings with Iran.
Two weeks after this, Standard Chartered paid a civil penalty of $340m (€263m / £225m) to the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), in order to settle the regulator's charges.
Then, in December, the bank paid a $100m fine to the Federal Reserve and $227m to the Department of Justice for the same reasons as the DFS.
Standard Chartered was also ordered to install a money-laundering risk controls monitor team for a term of at least two years and who will also have to report directly to DFS.
The bank was also ordered to place DFS examiners on site permanently and install personnel within its New York branch to oversee and audit any offshore money-laundering due diligence and monitoring undertaken by the Bank.
Trading Update
Standard Chartered shares fell in Hong Kong, erasing earlier gains, to reach HK$189 after the bank revealed that it will fail to meet its 10% revenue growth target for the next financial year amid a slump in its corporate banking businesses.
According to the UK-listed bank's latest trading update, revenue in the first three months to September dropped by a "low single-digit percentage," as weakness in emerging market currencies weighed heavily on its balance sheet.
Meddings, said Standard Chartered didn't expect to reach its target of at least 10% revenue growth this year.
[COLOR=#535353 !important]To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail:[email protected]
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[/COLOR]
[h=1]Standard Chartered Hired 2,000 Compliance and Legal Staff in 3 Years[/h]
By LIANNA BRINDED : Subscribe to Lianna's RSS feed | October 29, 2013 8:05 AM GMT
Standard Chartered has hired around 2,000 people to work in compliance and legal functions over the last three years despite paring back on its employee headcount overall.
Speaking on an investor's call, following Standard Chartered's interim management statement, the bank's chief financial officer Richard Meddings also revealed that overall headcount has actually fallen by 2,000 from a year ago, as it aims to manage costs.
In March this year, Standard Chartered announced it cut its bonus pool by 7% to pay for the raft of fines, after unveiling its full year 2012 results.
Shoring Up Compliance
Meanwhile the bank, which makes more than 90% of its profits in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, was forced to strengthen its compliance provisions after the bank was found by regulators to have hidden at least a quarter of a trillion US dollars' worth of transactions linked to Iran, which is subject to stringent US sanctions.
In August last year, Standard Chartered's shares plunged to their lowest level in four years when New York state authorities threatened to remove the bank's US licence, accusing it of "acting as a rogue institution" in its dealings with Iran.
Two weeks after this, Standard Chartered paid a civil penalty of $340m (€263m / £225m) to the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), in order to settle the regulator's charges.
Then, in December, the bank paid a $100m fine to the Federal Reserve and $227m to the Department of Justice for the same reasons as the DFS.
Standard Chartered was also ordered to install a money-laundering risk controls monitor team for a term of at least two years and who will also have to report directly to DFS.
The bank was also ordered to place DFS examiners on site permanently and install personnel within its New York branch to oversee and audit any offshore money-laundering due diligence and monitoring undertaken by the Bank.
Trading Update
Standard Chartered shares fell in Hong Kong, erasing earlier gains, to reach HK$189 after the bank revealed that it will fail to meet its 10% revenue growth target for the next financial year amid a slump in its corporate banking businesses.
According to the UK-listed bank's latest trading update, revenue in the first three months to September dropped by a "low single-digit percentage," as weakness in emerging market currencies weighed heavily on its balance sheet.
Meddings, said Standard Chartered didn't expect to reach its target of at least 10% revenue growth this year.
[COLOR=#535353 !important]To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail:[email protected]
To contact the editor, e-mail: [email protected]
[/COLOR]
Pay cut for CEO and reduced dividends for shareholders?
[h=1]Standard Chartered Will Fail to Reach Full Year 10% Growth Target[/h]
By LIANNA BRINDED : Subscribe to Lianna's RSS feed | October 29, 2013 6:42 AM GMT
Finance director, Richard Meddings, said Standard Chartered didn’t expect to reach its target of at least 10% revenue growth this year (Photo: Reuters)
Standard Chartered has revealed that it will fail to meet its 10% revenue growth target for the next financial year amid a slump in its corporate banking businesses.
According to the UK-listed bank's latest trading update, revenue in the first three months to September dropped by a "low single-digit percentage," as weakness in emerging market currencies weighed heavily on its balance sheet.
Standard Chartered makes more than 90% of its profits in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
The bank's finance director, Richard Meddings, said Standard Chartered didn't expect to reach its target of at least 10% revenue growth this year for a number of reasons.
While revenue slumped in the last quarter, revenue and operating profit expanded at a "low single digit rate" in the first nine months of this year.
The bank revealed that its first-half earnings would hurt full-year revenue by about $200m (£124m, €145m) and profit by $70m due to weakness in emerging market currencies including the Indian rupee and Indonesia's rupiah.
Standard Chartered shares fell in Hong Kong, erasing earlier gains, to reach HK$189.
Korea Weighs Heavily on Standard Chartered's Balance Sheet
In August this year, Standard Chartered unveiled a double digit percentage slump in pre-tax profits after the emerging markets bank took a $1bn hit on the value of its Korean business.
According to the group's first half year results, the London-based bank said profits tumbled by nearly 16% year-on-year, due to a sizeable writedown from its Korean arm that has had trouble since it bought First Bank in 2005 for $3.3bn.
"We cannot escape the realities of the Korean context, but we are determined to improve productivity and return on capital," Chief Executive Peter Sands said in a statement.
Standard Chartered said Korea remains its most difficult market and that it was writing down the value of the business.
However, the bank had warned the markets in June that it would, more aggressively, restructure the Asian country arm.
Standard Chartered's chief financial officer tried to calm market participants by stating that the bank expects to meet the $7.9bn consensus forecast for 2013 pre-tax profits, excluding the Korean writedown.
Richard Meddings added that the hit from the value of the Korean business reflects the reality of a tough market and a slump in return on equity across the industry.
First Half Results
Standard Chartered reported a pre-tax profit of $3.3bn for the six months to the end of June, down from $3.9bn a year ago.
Excluding the Korean arm hit, profit rose 4% to over $4bn. Operating income also rose, by the same percentage, to nearly $10bn as the bank saw 17 markets with income growth of at least 10%.
[COLOR=#535353 !important]To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail:[email protected]
To contact the editor, e-mail: [email protected]
[/COLOR]
[h=1]Standard Chartered Will Fail to Reach Full Year 10% Growth Target[/h]
By LIANNA BRINDED : Subscribe to Lianna's RSS feed | October 29, 2013 6:42 AM GMT
Standard Chartered has revealed that it will fail to meet its 10% revenue growth target for the next financial year amid a slump in its corporate banking businesses.
According to the UK-listed bank's latest trading update, revenue in the first three months to September dropped by a "low single-digit percentage," as weakness in emerging market currencies weighed heavily on its balance sheet.
Standard Chartered makes more than 90% of its profits in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
The bank's finance director, Richard Meddings, said Standard Chartered didn't expect to reach its target of at least 10% revenue growth this year for a number of reasons.
While revenue slumped in the last quarter, revenue and operating profit expanded at a "low single digit rate" in the first nine months of this year.
The bank revealed that its first-half earnings would hurt full-year revenue by about $200m (£124m, €145m) and profit by $70m due to weakness in emerging market currencies including the Indian rupee and Indonesia's rupiah.
Standard Chartered shares fell in Hong Kong, erasing earlier gains, to reach HK$189.
Korea Weighs Heavily on Standard Chartered's Balance Sheet
In August this year, Standard Chartered unveiled a double digit percentage slump in pre-tax profits after the emerging markets bank took a $1bn hit on the value of its Korean business.
According to the group's first half year results, the London-based bank said profits tumbled by nearly 16% year-on-year, due to a sizeable writedown from its Korean arm that has had trouble since it bought First Bank in 2005 for $3.3bn.
"We cannot escape the realities of the Korean context, but we are determined to improve productivity and return on capital," Chief Executive Peter Sands said in a statement.
Standard Chartered said Korea remains its most difficult market and that it was writing down the value of the business.
However, the bank had warned the markets in June that it would, more aggressively, restructure the Asian country arm.
Standard Chartered's chief financial officer tried to calm market participants by stating that the bank expects to meet the $7.9bn consensus forecast for 2013 pre-tax profits, excluding the Korean writedown.
Richard Meddings added that the hit from the value of the Korean business reflects the reality of a tough market and a slump in return on equity across the industry.
First Half Results
Standard Chartered reported a pre-tax profit of $3.3bn for the six months to the end of June, down from $3.9bn a year ago.
Excluding the Korean arm hit, profit rose 4% to over $4bn. Operating income also rose, by the same percentage, to nearly $10bn as the bank saw 17 markets with income growth of at least 10%.
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[/COLOR]
London bridge is falling down?
[h=1]StanChart says Korea woes, currency weaknesses to temper profit growth[/h]
1:20am EDT
By Lawrence White
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asia-focused Standard Chartered Plc (STAN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said its operating profit grew at a low single-digit rate so far this year, with the third quarter hammered by the poor performance of its South Korea business and falling emerging-market currencies.
Income for the third quarter dropped by a low single-digit percentage from a year earlier, the bank said in its quarterly trading update on Tuesday. The bank, listed in both Hong Kong and London, does not publish third-quarter profit figures.
StanChart has had a hard time in South Korea, where a government scheme is allowing more forgiveness on debts, since acquiring First Bank in 2005 for $3.3 billion. The bank has also been hit by a broad slowdown in Asia.
StanChart, which makes more than 90 percent of its profit in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, said the performance of its South Korea unit pushed down the profit of the group's entire consumer banking division.
The bank also expects a non-recurring tax-related cost in South Korea of $60 million for the full year. In August, StanChart said it would take a $1 billion hit on the value of its Korean business.
Excluding the weak performance in South Korea, StanChart's income and profits in the consumer banking division rose by a high single-digit percentage, it said.
So far this year, Stanchart's (2888.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares are down 3 percent in London trading, one of the worst performing bank stocks in Europe.
The bank's shares in Hong Kong traded down 0.5 percent on Tuesday afternoon, following the release of the quarterly statement.
A consistent performer throughout the financial crisis, Standard Chartered has been buffeted by a slowdown in key Asian markets such as Singapore and India.
Exposure to Asian currencies has been a further drag, as the weak Indian rupee and Indonesian rupiah translate to lower reported U.S. dollar earnings.
Based on current exchange rates, StanChart said, it expects depreciation of those currencies to have a full-year impact of around $200 million on income and $70 million on profits.
Other factors weighing on the bank's results include an estimated $260 million from the UK banking levy, and a $340 million settlement with a New York regulator over Iran-related laundering charges.
(Reporting by Lawrence White and Steve Slater; Editing by Ryan Woo)
[h=1]StanChart says Korea woes, currency weaknesses to temper profit growth[/h]
1:20am EDT
By Lawrence White
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asia-focused Standard Chartered Plc (STAN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said its operating profit grew at a low single-digit rate so far this year, with the third quarter hammered by the poor performance of its South Korea business and falling emerging-market currencies.
Income for the third quarter dropped by a low single-digit percentage from a year earlier, the bank said in its quarterly trading update on Tuesday. The bank, listed in both Hong Kong and London, does not publish third-quarter profit figures.
StanChart has had a hard time in South Korea, where a government scheme is allowing more forgiveness on debts, since acquiring First Bank in 2005 for $3.3 billion. The bank has also been hit by a broad slowdown in Asia.
StanChart, which makes more than 90 percent of its profit in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, said the performance of its South Korea unit pushed down the profit of the group's entire consumer banking division.
The bank also expects a non-recurring tax-related cost in South Korea of $60 million for the full year. In August, StanChart said it would take a $1 billion hit on the value of its Korean business.
Excluding the weak performance in South Korea, StanChart's income and profits in the consumer banking division rose by a high single-digit percentage, it said.
So far this year, Stanchart's (2888.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares are down 3 percent in London trading, one of the worst performing bank stocks in Europe.
The bank's shares in Hong Kong traded down 0.5 percent on Tuesday afternoon, following the release of the quarterly statement.
A consistent performer throughout the financial crisis, Standard Chartered has been buffeted by a slowdown in key Asian markets such as Singapore and India.
Exposure to Asian currencies has been a further drag, as the weak Indian rupee and Indonesian rupiah translate to lower reported U.S. dollar earnings.
Based on current exchange rates, StanChart said, it expects depreciation of those currencies to have a full-year impact of around $200 million on income and $70 million on profits.
Other factors weighing on the bank's results include an estimated $260 million from the UK banking levy, and a $340 million settlement with a New York regulator over Iran-related laundering charges.
(Reporting by Lawrence White and Steve Slater; Editing by Ryan Woo)
StanChart is a Zionist bank..........what else to expect ?
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