Standard Chartered Bank CEO set to increase risk-management measures
Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters is set to implement increasingly rigorous risk-management and expense control measures after uncovering a host of inordinate expenses and inappropriate financial dealings between staff members.

Standard Chartered boss speaks out about anger over “cancer” of bad behaviour

Standard Chartered's chief executive has attacked the "cancer" of weak controls at the bank, which he says is the reason for misconduct among senior staff.

Bill Winters gave an "angry" talk to Standard Chartered's 1,500 high-ranking managers since taking the helm a year ago and has sent staff memos slamming inordinate expenses and inappropriate financial dealings with other staff, according to the Financial Times.

"We had employees lending money to other employees at very high interest rates – more than on your Standard Chartered credit card. That is not OK," Winters said.

"Frankly they are childish things and individually they don't add up to material financial exposure for the bank, but culturally they are a cancer."

He continued: "Some parts of the control environment, not just relating to conduct, but also relating to risk-management and expense control, wasn't as rigorous as it needs to be for this environment.

"I remain as convinced as I hoped I would be that the ethical culture of the bank is very strong."

Withers said there had been incidents at the bank of senior people "using bad judgement or taking actions that with the benefit of any sort of rigorous review would be unacceptable".

On senior manager has invested in a "highly speculative" real estate deal with a woman who reported to him, he said. The arrangement had not been disclosed.