New | Standard Chartered refers alleged corruption in Indonesian firm to authorities

Standard Chartered said on Tuesday that it has referred allegations of impropriety at an Indonesian power plant company that the bank’s private equity arm invested in to “the appropriate authorities”.

The Wall Street Journal earlier said that the bank faced an investigation by the US Department of Justice into whether it failed to stop alleged misconduct at MAXpower Group Pte Ltd, which builds and operates gas-fired power plants in Southeast Asia.

“Standard Chartered takes very seriously allegations of impropriety in any of our private equity investments. We proactively referred this matter to the appropriate authorities and have conducted our own review,” a spokesman for the bank said in an emailed statement.

Two sources familiar with the matter said that the “appropriate authorities” included the US Department of Justice.

The Indonesian company allegedly paid bribes to win contracts and US prosecutors are investigating whether StanChart failed to stop the misconduct, the Wall Street Journal said, citing sources and legal reports it has reviewed.

An internal audit at MAXpower found evidence of bribery and other misconduct, the Journal said, saying those findings were echoed in a report from a law firm hired by MAXpower.