trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/ih5n7wqtfse-rn3ulhktpq2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Report: StanChart to refocus i-bank coverage to boost revenues

Podcast

Street Talk Episode 87

Blog

A New Dawn for European Bank M&A Top 5 Trends

Blog

Insight Weekly: US banks' loan growth; record share buybacks; utility M&A outlook

Blog

Banking Essentials Newsletter 2021: December Edition


Report: StanChart to refocus i-bank coverage to boost revenues

Standard Chartered Plc aims to boost revenues at its investment banking division by increasing lending to top clients and key industrial sectors in its main markets of Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

"Sources who have knowledge of the plan" told Reuters that the move could see StanChart cut about a dozen investment banking jobs. Some of those roles will likely be transferred across the bank's main corporate banking unit, the sources added.

The cuts will include M&A advisers that cover sectors including banks and insurance, private equity, technology and telecommunications, the sources said. They include Hong Kong-based senior banker Ken Tung, who led the coverage of private equity firms in North Asia, one of the sources added.

Stephen Priestley, who led coverage of firms in the Middle East and Africa, and Darcy Lai, who covered clients in Greater China and North Asia, are among those that have recently left the bank, the report noted.

The refocusing of its investment banking coverage forms part of StanChart's two-year restructuring that saw the firm cut more than 15,000 jobs and quit business lines such as Asian equities.

Another source said the bank wants to expand into "consumer-led industries" such as healthcare and pharmaceutical, while continuing to grow on its strong client base of oil and gas and metals and mining. It will, however, take a more selective approach toward sectors that are heavily dominated by U.S. investment banks, such as technology and telecommunications, Reuters said.

Its M&A advisory services will now be more focused on existing top clients that would also have "credit appetite" to fund deals, another source reportedly told Reuters.