Standard Chartered Plc, the United Kingdom’s third largest bank in terms of market value, plans to conduct business almost exclusively in Asia as well as in emerging markets.
Executives who dare to go away from this strategy risks the fury of Mike Rees, the CEO for Corporate Banking.
“Mike will say, I will bring up a cricket bat or baseball bat and hit you if you go off strategy,” said Sean Wallace, Corporate Finance Head of Standard Chartered.
Peter Sands, CEO of Standard Chartered, endorsed the hard-nosed stand of Rees. “People know they get banged on the head if they go offbeat,” he said.
The bank’s history of false starts is the main factor for what Wallace calls the bank’s “maniacal” decision to remain to the model that is based in Asia. Since the 1970s, Standard Chartered has undergone a series of expansions and acquisitions, producing various affiliates and branches on every continent. In the 1980s, it landed in a sea of red ink. Standard Chartered also admitted to a number of ethical lapses in the 1990s and faced disciplinary actions in two of its biggest markets – Hong Kong and India.
“We had a lot of banana skins from our previous years,” said Rees, who’s worked with the bank since 1990. “I’ve got the scars. The tragedy would be if I let those mistakes happen again.”
Lately, the bank has been doing well. As of 3 November 2009, the total return on its shares surged 79 percent, making it the second-best performer among the top five banks in Britain after Barclays Plc. The figure is four times the profit earned by HSBC Holdings Plc, its London- based archrival.