Standard Chartered seeks Asia-focused banker to replace its CEO

Standard Chartered is seeking a leader with a tough-to-find mix of Asian experience and regulatory clout as it kicks off the search for a successor to chief executive Peter Sands, investors, bankers and headhunters said.

The list of potential candidates is wide and includes Piyush Gupta, chief executive of Singapore-based DBS, outgoing Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly, National Bank of Abu Dhabi boss Alex Thursby, ANZ chief executive Mike Smith and Antonio Horta-Osorio, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group.

Sands steered the global bank out of the financial crisis and into a string of record earnings during his eight-year tenure, but is now under pressure from top shareholders after a surge in bad loans on the back of slower Asian growth hit profits and triggered a 43 per cent slump in its share price.

Three of the bank's top 30 investors, fed up with the pace of Sands' turnaround strategy, said in December Sands should be replaced, probably this year.

Insiders say shareholders are looking for a banker with a deep understanding of Asia, the main area of focus for Standard Chartered but currently a major troublespot following a slump in oil prices and receding growth in mainland China.

Any successor to Sands would also need to be able to speak head-to-head with US regulators, insiders say.

Standard Chartered has faced a string of legal issues in the United States, including having to pay US$667 million over sanctions violations involving Iran and other countries.