Standard Chartered probing bankers’ expenses, personal loans
Investigation has led to departure of at least three managing directors in Dubai in past six months
Standard Chartered has been conducting a probe into its bankers’ conduct, including cases of padding expense reports and improperly lending money to colleagues, sources said.
The investigation led to the departure of several bankers in Dubai in the past six months, including at least three managing directors, after Standard Chartered found they personally lent money to other employees in violation of internal compliance rules, two sources said.
Chief executive Bill Winters said this week Standard Chartered needs to tighten up “everything” around its controls including risk management, expenses and compliance. Last year, the bank appointed a former British surveillance chief as a senior adviser and named an ex-Interpol president to the board’s financial crime risk committee.
Standard Chartered has been seeking to improve controls after being fined in the past four years for money-laundering failures and breaching Iran sanctions. Though Standard Chartered had a “fantastic” ethical culture, “there was a looseness” to the way the bank was managed during the bank’s years of outperformance and “little mistakes got amplified”, Winters said last week.