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StanChart Loses Four Financing Bankers in India Amid Revamp

A logo at the Standard Chartered Plc headquarters in London, UK, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. Standard Chartered is due to report first-half earnings on Friday, July 28. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg (Hollie Adams/Bloomberg)

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Standard Chartered Plc is losing a handful of executives at its financing and credit business across India and Singapore amid a global restructuring and as an active dealmaking market boosts demand for bankers. 

Four bankers in India and two in Singapore have resigned from the UK firm’s corporate finance division in the past six months, according to people familiar with the matter. In Mumbai, Karan Maroo, a director of leveraged finance and acquisition financing, and executive director Vikash Bihani were among the departures, said the people, asking not to be identified as they aren’t authorized to speak publicly. 

In Singapore, Jay Sheth, who’s involved in structuring and distribution of debt instruments to banks and private credit funds across Asia, is also leaving, said the people.

The Asia staff are leaving for various reasons, including joining rival firms that are seeking an edge in India’s dealmaking boom, the people said. Bihani joined Mashreqbank PSC as head of investment banking this month after 15 years at Standard Chartered, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“Some movements have been internal, others have happened over a period and are a part of natural people movement that take place in any large organization,” a Mumbai-based spokesperson at Standard Chartered said in an emailed response to queries from Bloomberg News. 

Maroo and Sheth didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The London-based bank is undergoing a revamp under Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters, combining its global credit markets business with the mergers advisory teams under Henrik Raber, Bloomberg News has reported. In another earlier round of restructuring, Standard Chartered cut 20 roles in places like London and Singapore and overhauled its mergers team by absorbing bankers focused on industry coverage, Bloomberg News reported in August.

The departures in corporate banking come as the lender seeks to attract India’s wealthy by boosting the number of relationship managers by almost a third and focusing on smaller towns. 

One of the largest European banks operating in emerging markets, Standard Chartered makes the bulk of its money in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In India, the bank is among the top five arrangers of foreign currency loans for corporate borrowers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It ranks first this year in arranging dollar bond sales from Indian borrowers and is third for local currency loans.

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