Peace is not ready to ditch Sands at Standard Chartered – just yet
STANDARD Chartered Bank, which recently produced its worst results in more than 12 years, said last night it stood behind its beleaguered chairman and chief executive.
In response to speculation that either chairman Sir John Peace or chief executive Peter Sands might step down imminently in the wake of the bank’s disappointing performance, it said: “The board wants to be absolutely clear that it is united in its support of both Peter and John, and the management team, in delivering the refreshed strategy, restoring the bank to profitable growth and delivering returns for our shareholders.”
Peace, who has been under fire from shareholders at Burberry and Experian, which he also chairs, even took the unusual step of issuing a personal statement, saying: “I have not begun work on a succession plan to replace Peter Sands as CEO.”
However, one shareholder said he thought it inevitable that Sands would quit the bank before too long. “One of them will go soon and there is no point in that being the chair as it would delay the whole succession process,” they said.