StanChart CEO contender Cooper set to leave in broad overhaul

A front runner to replace Standard Chartered (StanChart) chief executive officer Bill Winters is set to depart as the emerging markets lender pushes through a broader management reshuffle to boost returns.

Simon Cooper, who has led the firm’s corporate, commercial and institutional banking division for eight years, will leave StanChart to “pursue other interests”, according to a statement. Roberto Hoornweg and Sunil Kaushal will replace him as they take charge of the newly renamed corporate and investment banking unit, the bank said. 

StanChart will strip out a series of regional reporting lines in the division, which could lead to several executives losing their jobs, according to a person familiar with the matter. No final decisions have been made on job cuts, the person said, asking not to be named discussing personnel information.

The changes, which confirm a Bloomberg report last month, come weeks after Winters said StanChart’s share price was “crap”, despite the bank reporting consensus-beating profits and a fresh US$1 billion share buyback programme. The latest moves would “ensure clear accountabilities” and “bring renewed intensity” to efforts to improve returns, according to the statement.

StanChart has been hit with senior departures in recent weeks, including Paul Skelton, client coverage leader, and James Cameron, head of commercial real estate. 

As part of the broader changes, Judy Hsu, head of Standard Chartered’s consumer, private and business banking arm, will take on additional responsibility for Greater China and North Asia. Hsu will move from Singapore to Hong Kong.

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Hoornweg, who was most recently global head of the bank’s financial market unit and comes from a background in fixed income trading, will move from Singapore to Dubai to take up his new role. Kaushal will relocate from Dubai to Singapore. He was most recently head of the bank’s business in Africa and the Middle East.

Ben Hung, who had previously been responsible for Greater China and North Asia as CEO of StanChart’s Asian business, is becoming president of international while Tanuj Kapilashrami, group head of human resources, will also become responsible for strategy, corporate affairs, brand and marketing, supply chain management, and property.

“As we announced at our full-year 2023 results, we are taking action to build on our momentum and deliver sustainably higher returns,” Winters said in the statement, adding that Cooper had led a “substantial transformation” at the bank.

Cooper has long wanted the top job, and became increasingly frustrated that Winters would not be leaving his position in the near future, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Bloomberg News reported in 2021 that Cooper had been taking development and leadership courses to eventually prepare him for the role.

The bank is seeking to replace its chairman, and recently hired Diego De Giorgi as the new chief financial officer. De Giorgi, who previously held senior roles at Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, has impressed the board and senior management in recent presentations, one of the people said.

Winters will celebrate his ninth anniversary as CEO in June. In that time, he has overhauled the bank and cut thousands of jobs, but the company’s shares are still worth about a third less than when he joined.

“We’re not happy with the share price at all,” Winters said in an interview with Bloomberg Television last month. The market, he said, has “a sense that it’s hard to get things done at Standard Chartered, and this Fit for Growth programme is going to tackle that head on”. BLOOMBERG