Standard Chartered being investigated in Britain: CEO

[LONDON] Britain's financial watchdog has two open investigations against British bank Standard Chartered, the lender's CEO said on Tuesday.

"We have two investigations with the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) related to sanctions compliance and anti money laundering oversight," chief executive Bill Winters said in a conference call.

"Those investigations are ongoing. Impossible for us to determine exactly when those will conclude or the magnitude if any fine that could result from that," he said, adding: "We're cooperating fully".

Standard Chartered paid US$667 million in 2012 to settle charges it violated US sanctions by handling thousands of money transactions involving Iran, Myanmar, Libya and Sudan.

It is under monitoring until the end of 2017.

The Asia-focused emerging markets bank also said earlier that it was cooperating with "an ongoing US sanctions-related investigation".

In August last year, Standard Chartered was hit by US regulators with a US$300 million fine and restrictions on its dollar-clearing business for failing to detect possible money-laundering.

Standard Chartered on Tuesday said it would axe 15,000 jobs and raise US$5.1 billion in capital after posting a "disappointing" third-quarter loss as it struggles to return to growth.

AFP