Standard Chartered finance chief gets £546,000 pay-off

The boardroom clearout out at Standard Chartered continued yesterday as the finance director of the emerging markets bank quit with a pay-off worth at least £546,000.

Nigel Kenny is leaving after 10 years with the bank, the last two as finance director, and will be replaced by Peter Sands, a partner at the management consultancy McKinsey & Co who used to work in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The move followed a meeting yesterday between Mr Kenny and Mervyn Davies, the bank's new chief executive appointed in November after the departure of Rana Talwar.

Mr Kenny will receive one year's salary as a lump sum with a bonus payment, yet to be determined, for his performance during the first half of the year. He was perceived in the City as being close to Mr Talwar.

Standard Chartered last month ended a six-month dispute with Mr Talwar by agreeing to pay him £3.2m in compensation for ousting him shortly after the start of his two-year contract. Mr Kenny's settlement will not be reduced if he gets another job, unlike Mr Talwar's.

Mr Sands, husband of the author Betsy Tobin, has advised the Standard Chartered board, and will have a special remit for strategy in addition to his duties as finance director. Analysts said it was hard to see what his appointment said about the direction the bank was heading.

Hugh Pye, banking analyst at BNP Paribas, said: "Standard Chartered will have been pleased to get Mr Sands. He has a very good record."

A spokesman for Standard Chartered said Mr Sands knew the bank well and had particular strengths in technology issues. "There are no further board changes planned, other than the previously-announced moves to find a new chairman," he added.

The bank was still lining up candidates to replace Sir Patrick Gillam, the present chairman, who is to retire next year. A dispute between Sir Patrick and Mr Talwar over whether the bank should entertain merger approaches from the likes of Lloyds TSB and Barclays was said to have been behind Mr Talwar's departure.