Standard Chartered sets aside $900m to cover fines

Stock exchange filing factors in US probes and UK financial crimes control

Standard Chartered (StanChart) has set aside $900 million to cover fines resulting from regulatory investigations in the US and Britain, potentially drawing a line under probes that have dogged the bank for years.

News of the provision, made for the fourth quarter of last year, comes ahead of a strategy update from the bank along with its 2018 earnings results on Tuesday, when CEO Bill Winters is widely expected to outline an overhaul of operations.

In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday, StanChart said the provision related to the potential resolution of US investigations into alleged violations of US sanctions, and for probes relating to foreign exchange trading.

The filing is the first time the bank has quantified the possible cost of the investigations. Previously it said only in filings that it was “not practicable” to estimate the financial impact because the range of potential outcomes was too broad.

StanChart also included in the provision a £102.2 million ($133.3 million) fine from Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority related to historical financial crime controls. It said it was considering its options in relation to the penalty.

The British regulator declined to comment.

StanChart has been the subject of a string of investigations by US authorities into its dealings with Iran, which is the subject of heavy US sanctions.

In 2012, the bank agreed to pay $667 million to settle alleged sanctions breaches from 2001 to 2007. It also agreed deferred prosecution agreements with the Department of Justice and New York County District Attorney’s Office.

The current investigations are examining the extent to which the bank allowed clients with Iranian interests to conduct transactions after 2007, as well as the extent to which it shared such dealings with authorities at the time of the 2012 settlement.

In October, Winters said US authorities were also investigating whether StanChart breached Iran-related compliance rules as recently as 2013.

Media reports

last year said London-based StanChart faced a possible $1.5 billion fine for Iranrelated sanctions violations.

The 2018 provision will reduce profit at the bank, which analyst estimates had previously put at $3.9 billion, Refinitiv data showed.

“The provision is huge and unexpected,” said Steven Leung, a sales director at brokerage UOB Kay Hian. However, the impact on StanChart stock might be limited if the profit hit meant future earnings could be flattered by the low comparison with 2018.

In the first hour of London trade, shares in the bank were up 1.7 percent compared with a 0.5 percent fall in the bluechip FTSE 100 index. In Hong Kong, shares of StanChart closed 0.6 percent lower.

“Though the provision amount is not small, it removes some of the uncertainties related to past issues,” said Hao Hong, of brokerage BOCOM International.

Last month, New York’s financial watchdog fined StanChart $40 million for attempting to rig foreign exchange transactions from 2007 through 2013 — a penalty the bank said was also included in the $900 million provision.

StanChart has seen a slump in fortunes in the past few years as restructuring under Winters repaired a balance sheet hit by excessive lending in the previous decade.

The bank has projected revenue growth of 5 to 7 percent over the next three years, but Jefferies this week said a consensus of analyst estimates was “anchored at the lower end” of the guidance.”