Thousands of jobs set to go at StanChart

STANDARD Chartered announced it is shutting down its loss-making equities business as part of a restructuring plan that will see 4,000 employees made redundant in a bid to achieve cost savings of at least £265m this year.

The 150-year old bank is exiting equity research and equity capital markets, which will result in 200 jobs going mostly in Asia, although ‘a handful’ are based in the UK, according to a Standard Chartered spokesperson.

Shares in the bank rose nearly 1pc to 970.7p as investors warmed to the move, which is expected to save some $100m (£66.26m) in 2016. ‘It lacked scale and was loss-making,’ said Investec analyst Ian Gordon – who rates the stock a ‘buy’ - referring to the equity division.

The bank was a new entrant in the area, having bought Cazenove from JP Morgan in 2008.

In the retail clients business, Standard Chartered said it slashed 2,000 jobs in the last three months and will cut a further 2,000 this year by shutting down branches and switching to digital banking.

The bank, which has more than 86,000 employees and banks more than 90pc of its profits in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, said 22 branches were closed in the second half of last year and it intends total closures will amount to 80-100. ‘There is no silver bullet. However, we are materially encouraged by further evidence of the breadth of initiatives now under way to take out costs,’ Gordon said.

Standard Chartered has battled a 28pc fall in share price last year as investors feared its exposure to falling commodity prices and rising bad loans amid suggestions it may have to sell shares to bolster its capital position.

‘We are continuing to take significant action on costs by exiting or reconfiguring non-core and underperforming businesses, and by increasing the efficiency of our core businesses,’ said chief executive Peter Sands.