StanChart suffers senior private banker exits in Asia as unit earnings sag: sources

Hong Kong: Standard Chartered PLC has seen the departure of at least four senior Asia-based bankers from its private banking unit in recent months, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said, amid growing earnings pressure at the business.

Among those who left the London-headquartered bank in the past six months include Teddy Kwong, managing director and market head for Hong Kong, and Peter Lam, managing director and team leader for Hong Kong, said the people.

Both Hong Kong-based Kwong and Lam joined StanChart in the first half of 2017 from the regional private banking unit of rival HSBC Holdings PLC. It was not immediately clear where the two are headed.

Ray Li, StanChart private banking managing director and head of relationship management, has also left after having worked at the bank for more than a decade, said the people and according to his LinkedIn profile.

The Asia, Africa and Middle East-focused bank has also lost India private banking head Sandeep Das, who joined Barclays PLC last month as head of private clients India in private bank and overseas services, as per a Barclays announcement.

A StanChart spokeswoman in Singapore declined to comment on recent staff exits in Asia, but said the bank continued to invest in and hire for its private banking business in 2019.

Kwong, Lam, Li, and Das could not immediately be reached for comment. The people with direct knowledge of the matter were not authorised to speak with media and so declined to be identified.