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 duncan.mavin@wsj.com
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