- Business
- Standard Chartered PLC (2888.HK) is a British multinational banking and financial services company that provides cross-border banking solutions primarily in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Founded through the 1969 merger of The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (established 1853) and The Standard Bank of British South Africa (established 1862), the company is headquartered at 1 Basinghall Avenue, London, United Kingdom, and operates in 54 markets worldwide with approximately 83,000 employees. It conducts business through three main segments: Corporate & Investment Banking, which offers transaction banking including cash management, trade finance, and supply chain financing; financial markets services encompassing foreign exchange, rates, commodities trading, debt and equity capital markets, and structured financing; and custody, clearing, and securities lending; Wealth & Retail Banking, which delivers personal, priority, private banking, and small-to-medium enterprise services including wealth solutions, deposits, lending, investment products, and capital markets activities; and SC Ventures, the innovation arm focused on fintech investments, venture building, and disruptive financial models. The company targets affluent individuals, multinational corporations, financial institutions, governments, and investors, deriving around 90% of profits from its core emerging markets.
Recent developments include a US$3 billion strategic financing partnership with Apollo in 2025 to fund global infrastructure and energy transition credit, with Standard Chartered acquiring a minority stake in Apollo's Apterra platform for infrastructure debt origination; expansion of digital assets custody partnership with OKX into the European Economic Area in October 2025; the official launch of a Representative Office in Casablanca, Morocco, in December 2025 to enhance Middle East and Africa coverage following expansions in Egypt (2024) and Saudi Arabia (2021); divestiture of its consumer, private, and business banking division in Tanzania to Access Bank in June 2025; a $238 million gain from the Solv India transaction with Jumbotail contributing to 34% profit growth in Q2 2025; and over US$3 billion raised in Signature CIO funds on its three-year anniversary in October 2025.