London, May 18, 2026, 13:10 BST
- Standard Chartered traded up around 0.3% in London, moving with the stronger FTSE 100.
- Standard Chartered Bank said Manus Costello is now the permanent chief financial officer, while Tanuj Kapilashrami was named group chief operating officer.
- Standard Chartered Bank is set to hold a Hong Kong strategy event for investors on Tuesday. Management plans to lay out new growth plans and a medium-term financial framework.
Standard Chartered shares inched up Monday as the bank, which focuses on Asia, appointed Manus Costello permanent CFO. The move drew a muted response from the market ahead of an investor day set for Tuesday.
London-listed shares rose 0.34% to 1,895 pence in early afternoon, based on delayed Bloomberg data. The FTSE 100 was up around 0.5%.
Standard Chartered plans to lay out its strategic priorities and growth plans at an investor event in Hong Kong on Tuesday. The bank said investors can expect details on the medium-term financial framework, which are the targets shareholders will use to assess if recent profit momentum is sustainable.
Costello, 50, is stepping in as interim group CFO at Standard Chartered right away, less than two months after joining as global head of investor relations in April 2024. He had spent 25 years in equity research, with senior posts at Autonomous and Merrill Lynch. The bank said Costello is expected to take a seat on the board as executive director, pending regulator sign-off.
Standard Chartered named a new executive after Diego De Giorgi resigned in February. De Giorgi spent almost three years at the bank before moving to Apollo Global Management as EMEA head. Reuters said his departure happened as the market anticipates fresh growth plans, following earlier cost cuts and asset sales.
Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters said Costello brought “strong rigour” to the bank and would help take it into its “next phase of growth”. Costello described Standard Chartered as a “compelling franchise” with cross-border strengths that clients value. Standard Chartered Bank
Banks traded mixed as the shares rose. HSBC gained 0.5% and Barclays dropped 0.4%, Bloomberg data showed.
Standard Chartered’s new CFO steps in as profits rise, though challenges aren’t gone. The bank last month posted a 17% jump in first-quarter pretax profit to $2.45 billion, beating estimates as Gulf bond deals and wealth flows lifted results. It also set aside $190 million for possible Iran war losses.
Wealth income jumped 32% in the quarter and global banking income added 19%, according to Reuters. Investors will ask management to stand by those numbers on Tuesday, especially if market volatility drops or Gulf fundraising pulls back.
Standard Chartered said Monday its non-binding offer to buy Zodia Custody’s custody business was accepted. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and normal closing conditions. The bank handles digital asset custody for institutional clients, safeguarding crypto and tokenised assets. Margaret Harwood-Jones, global head of financing and securities services at the bank, said the transaction would “accelerate the growth” of its digital assets custody portfolio. Standard Chartered Bank
But the downside is still on the table. A drawn-out Middle East conflict might keep credit costs high. Regulatory approvals could hang up both the CFO’s board seat and the Zodia deal. If Tuesday’s targets come in looking soft after a strong first quarter, the stock could take a hit.
Risk-weighted assets are in focus, too. Banks use RWAs to size loans and trading. On the first-quarter call, interim CFO Peter Burrill described the possible impact from sovereign-risk downgrades as “manageable, not material,” and said effects remain inside guidance for now. But he noted that depends on what happens with the conflict and oil prices. Standard Chartered Bank
So far, investors have looked at the CFO switch as a straightforward move, not a big shake-up. The real challenge hits Tuesday, when Winters and the new finance chief will need to demonstrate if Standard Chartered’s recent gains can actually translate into steady profits.
