Standard Chartered shifts growth to capital markets

Standard Chartered’s corporate and institutional bank can increase its profitability even when rates fall, divisional head Simon Cooper tells Euromoney. After reaping the benefit of investments in cash management, he is now turning to the financial markets business, especially credit – reinforcing efforts to grow clients in Europe and the Americas.

Standard Chartered has changed a lot, both in its business mix and culture, since Bill Winters took over from former chief executive Peter Sands in 2015. Winters’ recruitment of Simon Cooper the following year from arch-rival HSBC to lead the corporate and institutional bank, has played a big part in those changes.

When Cooper arrived, Standard Chartered was still recovering from the aftermath of rapid growth and ill-judged lending in the early 2010s, especially in wholesale banking, at a time when emerging markets appeared relatively healthy and the commodity cycle was reaching a peak.

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