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Banking & finance
BusinessBanking & Finance

Standard Chartered, one of Hong Kong’s biggest banks, will exit seven markets in Africa, Middle East in latest revamp

  • The London-based lender will seek to focus solely on commercial and investment banking in another two African markets
  • The bank wants to refocus and simplify its business in the region as part of its efforts to reach renewed profitability targets

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Standard Chartered plans to exit seven markets in Africa and the Middle East and focus on commerical and investment banking in two other African markets as part of its latest revamp. Photo: Shutterstock
Chad Brayin London
Standard Chartered, one of Hong Kong’s three currency-issuing lenders, said it plans to fully exit seven markets in Africa and the Middle East and focus solely on corporate and institutional banking in two additional African markets as part of a reshaping of its business in the region.

The London-based bank, which generates much of its revenue in Asia, will seek to sell its onshore operations in Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe as part of an effort to refocus and simplify its business. It also plans to wind down its retail business in Ivory Coast and Tanzania to focus solely on commercial and investment banking.

Resources from those businesses will be redirected within the Africa and the Middle East region to areas where it can have the “greatest scale and growth potential, in order to better support its clients,” the bank said.

“As we set out earlier in the year, we are sharpening our focus on the most significant opportunities for growth while also simplifying our business,” Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters said in a statement. “We remain excited by a number of opportunities we see in the AME region, as illustrated by our new markets, but remain disciplined in our assessment of where we can deliver significantly improved shareholder returns.”

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Following the exits, the bank said it would continue to serve corporate and institutional clients and facilitate cross-border capital flows and offshore business in those markets from its international network. It currently has onshore operations in 59 markets globally and serves clients in 83 markets.

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