Standard Chartered: A thousand jobs to go in cull of top ranks

Chief executive Bill Winters said the bank had already cut back staff since his arrival, but more were likely to go and staff would learn their fate in November

Standard Chartered, the London-based emerging markets bank, is set to cut 1,000 senior bankers’ jobs, its new chief executive Bill Winters has told staff in an internal email.

The bank, which ousted Peter Sands as its chief executive in February after a series of profit warnings and fines for money laundering, brought in the former JP Morgan banker Mr Winters in June. He wrote to staff in July promising a management shake-up and review of the whole bank.

He said he was close to finalising that review and it would bring a 25 per cent reduction in the bank’s senior staff. That would mean 1,000 posts would go, from the level of managing director right up to board executives.

Mr Winters said the bank had already cut back staff since his arrival, but more were likely to go and staff would learn their fate in November.

He also said Standard Chartered would reduce the number of clients for which it works, restricting them to those who “value our capabilities and compensate us accordingly”.

Mr Winters added that he had a “clear sense” of his plans for the bank, which would involve selling off businesses “where appropriate”, making targeted investments, delivering “superior execution” and making Standard Chartered more innovative.

The businesses considered for sale would be in areas where the bank was “not differentiated” or “not critical to a core strength”, Mr Winters said in the memo.

He added: “We need to create room for … investment. While some [savings] will come from efficiencies, we will also look to divest where we are not differentiated and an activity, business or location is not critical to a core strength.

“Our situation requires decisive and immediate action. Each member of the management team has a mission to drive through improvements in our returns, and part of this will be further streamlining of our organisation, eliminating management layers and duplication of roles.”

Mr Winters is expected to outline his plans to investors and staff in November or December.

“We have a clear sense of our direction of travel and the key areas of focus – superior execution, targeted investments, divestment where we are not advantaged, and innovation in our product and process design,” he said.

Standard Chartered described Mr Winters’ memo as an “update on what he said we were going to do”.

The bank added: “In it, he has made it clear that kick-starting performance is a priority, and we are not standing still. We have a clear sense of our direction of travel and the key areas of focus.”

The shares jumped 5 per cent, or 38p, to 786.7p.