Standard Chartered Names Jose Viñals to Be Chairman -- 2nd Update
July 27 2016 - 04:57PM
Dow Jones News
By Margot Patrick
LONDON -- Standard Chartered PLC tapped International Monetary
Fund official José Viñals to be its next chairman, after searching
for more than a year to replace the departing John Peace.
Mr. Viñals will start in October and officially take over the
role from Mr. Peace on Dec. 1.
Naguib Kheraj, the Standard Chartered director who led the
search for a new chairman, will become deputy chairman, the bank
said.
Mr. Viñals, all but unknown in British banking circles, is
currently the financial counselor and director of the monetary and
capital markets department of the IMF. An economist and former
academic, he joined the IMF in 2009 after rising to deputy governor
in a 25-year career at the Bank of Spain.
While at the IMF, he was dubbed "Dr. Doom" by some staff for his
work in ferreting out risks to the global financial system. His
chief product, the semiannual Global Financial Stability Report,
became a must-read for economists, analysts, bankers and fund
managers.
Standard Chartered announced in February 2015 that Mr. Peace
would leave the bank in 2016. But the search dragged on for months
longer than expected as it proved difficult to find candidates
willing to globe-trot and help oversee the bank's
restructuring.
"José brings deep and extensive economic, political and
regulatory experience of our markets and an exceptional grasp and
understanding of the international financial system," Chief
Executive Bill Winters said.
Mr. Winters replaced former CEO Peter Sands last year, in a
changing of the guard at the bank after a decade of rapid growth
ended abruptly with a sharp rise in bad loans. Mr. Peace will be
the last top official from that earlier era to leave the bank.
In his new job, Mr. Viñals will help oversee a yearslong
restructuring being carried out by Mr. Winters and other new
managers. Standard Chartered is trying to reinvent itself as a
smaller and more focused lender after overextending itself in areas
such as energy and mining.
Mr. Viñals "is a valuable addition to STAN, which has in recent
years faced the challenges of a tougher regulatory environment,"
analysts at Citigroup wrote in a note.
But while Mr. Viñals has vast experience in financial stability
and banking oversight, he doesn't have commercial-banking
experience, Standard Chartered officials confirmed.
Since the near-collapse of Cooperative Bank PLC in 2013 under a
chairman with almost no business experience, the Bank of England
has required any bank chairman to have worked in financial
services, although not necessarily in the private sector.
Mr. Kheraj and Mr. Winters told journalists on a call that Mr.
Viñals's lack of commercial experience wouldn't be a problem,
because he brings other attributes to the job, such as having
worked with central banks and finance ministers around the
world.
At the IMF, Mr. Vinals advocated a closer union among European
banks to guarantee customer deposits and urged struggling banks to
address the elevated levels of bad loans on their books. He also
called for China, a major market for Standard Chartered, to develop
a regulatory regime commensurate with its increasingly complex
financial sector.
Mr. Viñals' "personal chemistry and fit is very good with our
team, " Mr. Kheraj said. He said his own ascension to deputy
chairman wasn't required by regulators to approve Mr. Viñals's
appointment.
Mr. Kheraj had previously ruled himself out of becoming
chairman.
The IMF said Wednesday that Mr. Vinals wanted to return to
Europe from Washington for family reasons. He will be based at
Standard Chartered's headquarters in London.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Mr. Vinals's
selection for the chairman job shows "the very high regard in which
he is held -- for his experience, capabilities, and insights on
financial issues."
"I have personally come to rely on his sharp intellect,
analytical rigor, and ability to get to the heart of complex
matters," Ms. Lagarde said.
--Gabriel T. Rubin and Ian Talley contributed to this
article.
Write to Margot Patrick at margot.patrick@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 27, 2016 16:42 ET (20:42 GMT)
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