StanChart mulls leaving UK as bank levy rises
STANDARD Chartered is considering leaving Britain over mounting pressure from the bank levy, its finance director said yesterday.
It comes after HSBC’s bosses said the hostile atmosphere in the UK could push it to move to another country.
Hong Kong or Singapore are both considered likely destinations for the pair.
Standard Chartered expects to pay $540m (£352m) for the levy this year, up $170m on the year.
“The domicile of the bank is impacted by a number of things. The increase in the bank levy is significant,” group finance director Andy Halford said yesterday. “We update the board from time to time, and the board will decide what, if anything, it wants to do as a consequence.”
The bank levy hits the two banks disproportionately hard, as it is a 0.5 per cent fee on their global balance sheets.
As StanChart is based in London but works in emerging markets, this means it pays a heavy price for operating out of the UK.
However, it is not thought StanChart will leave imminently – it is currently awaiting the arrival of new chief executive Bill Winters, and a new chairman to replace Sir John Peace.
Its pre-tax profits fell 22 per cent in the first quarter to $1.5bn, with weak Chinese and Indian growth hitting the bank’s bottom line. The figures were worse than the market expected, sending shares down 3.2 per cent on the day.
However, analysts took heart from the one per cent fall in costs and the reassurance that the bank’s capital buffers are on track to rise to between 11 per cent and 12 per cent this year.