LONDON - Standard Chartered said Thursday that its chief financial officer, Richard Meddings, will leave as part of a major revamp that will combine the bank’s wholesale and consumer businesses.
Mr. Meddings, 55, is to leave Standard Chartered, the London-based bank that generates most of its earnings in Asia and other emerging markets, at the end of June. Steve Bertamini, head of consumer banking, is also stepping down. The bank said it would announce a new finance chief “in due course.â€
Sarah Lindgreen, a spokeswoman for the bank, said it was Mr. Meddings’ “personal decision†to leave the bank just as it enters a new phase with a changed strategy.
The combination of the two businesses is part of a major reorganization for Standard Chartered to reduce costs and focus on products and markets that promise the biggest returns, especially corporate and private customers in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The moves will “deliver both productivity gains and improvements in the quality of the service and products we offer our customers,†chief executive Peter Sands said in a statement.
Standard Chartered fared better during the financial crisis than some of its rivals and the bank did not need a government bailout, mainly because of its large business in emerging markets. But growth in those markets started to slow recently and some investors raised concerns about whether Standard Chartered could continue to grow its earnings.
The bank warned in December that full-year operating profit at its consumer banking unit would fall for the first time in a decade and that revenue for the entire bank would remain unchanged. Standard Chartered was also forced to abandon an annual 10 percent revenue growth target. Headaches in South Korea involving a dispute with regulators and a reduction in its branch network, are continuing.
Standard Chartered said it will combine the banking units in April. Mike Rees, 57, will head the combined business and be named deputy group chief executive, reporting to Mr. Sands. The new unit will be organized according to three customer groups â€" corporate clients, private banking clients and retail clients.
The Bank of England last month forced Standard Chartered to end Mr. Meddings’ responsibilities for overseeing key risk functions at the bank. Like at other large British financial firms, the chief risk officer is to report to the chief executive and not to the chief financial officer.
Mr. Meddings joined Standard Chartered in 2002 and was named finance chief in 2006. Before that he worked for Credit Suisse and Barclays, where he was group financial controller.
“This is a natural point for me to step away,†Mr. Meddings said in a statement.
