Standard Chartered Loses Another Senior Executive

By Duncan Mavin 

LONDON-- Standard Chartered PLC said Wednesday that another of its top global executives is leaving the bank, the latest in a string of departures by longtime senior managers.

V. Shankar, a 13-year Standard Chartered veteran who heads its business in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Americas, is stepping down later this year, the bank said.

A person familiar with Mr. Shankar's thinking said the 57-year-old, Dubai-based banker is planning to start a private equity venture focused on investments in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Mr. Shankar expects to raise about $1 billion from investors in those regions, this person said.

He follows Chief Executive Officer Peter Sands and Asia CEO Jaspal Bindra out the door. Mr. Sands is stepping down in June to be replaced by former J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. banker Bill Winters, the bank said in February.

Chairman Sir John Peace is also leaving in 2016. The U.K.-based, emerging markets-focused bank has announced changes in a number of other key positions in recent weeks.

Standard Chartered's share price has rallied since Mr. Winters appointment was announced. But the incoming CEO faces a challenging turnaround. Bad loans from corporate and institutional clients more than doubled last year from 2013, while a broader overhaul includes plans to sell some businesses, cut some clients and reduce costs by around $1.8 billion over the next three years. Many analysts also expect Standard Chartered may have to raise additional capital.

Mr. Winters, an investment banker who has spent most of his career in the U.K. and U.S., will also have to replace a wealth of emerging markets experience that is leaving the senior management ranks.

Mr. Shankar, who previously worked for Bank of America for almost two decades, "is a financial services veteran with a very significant level of contacts with business people around the globe," said Kai Nargolwala, a board member at Credit Suisse Group AG

"He is one of the most experienced executives at Standard Chartered and has a lot of institutional knowledge of the bank," said Mr. Nargolwala, who has known Mr. Shankar for 25 years and who is also a former senior Standard Chartered and Bank of America banker.

"It will be tough for Standard Chartered," said Davide Serra, founder and CEO of Algebris Investments. Mr. Shankar's knowledge of the bank's key markets "will not easily be replicated," he said.

Mr. Shankar, an Indian-born, Singaporean citizen, has been thinking about leaving Standard Chartered to branch out on his own for about a year but made the decision in the past few months, the person said.

"Standard Chartered offered him expanded responsibilities. However, he decided it was time to pursue his entrepreneurial streak," the person said.

Write to Duncan Mavin at [e-mail]

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