Bill Winters appoints Management Team: message to employees

Today I’m announcing our new Management Team to lead and run the Bank. Our task is to reposition our great franchise to achieve superior performance. Our team is ready to take on this challenge. We will also put in place a new organisational structure to make the most of the advantages we have and get us back to a position of strength.

Many of you have given me a helpful perspective on what needs to change and what we can do better. I’ve heard a lot about the complexity of our existing organisation – slow or no decisions and confusion about who is responsible for what. With this in mind, our new organisation is built around a few principles:

• Local clients should be managed through a country or regional management structure
• Global clients and businesses should be managed on a global basis
• Most of our products are used across client segments and regions and we must provide for consistent delivery of these products and capabilities
• Managers must have clear accountability for bottom-line performance and for promoting our values
• Our organisation must reinforce the highest global standards of risk management, compliance and conduct
• We will organise ourselves with a sharp focus on efficiency and productivity, using technology as a competitive tool

The Management Team, supported by this new structure will, as a priority, work together as a single team in its leadership of the Bank and in the interests of our clients, to resolve problems quickly.

I also want to be clear about what isn’t going to change. We will continue to focus on Asia, Africa and the Middle East – this is our DNA. Here for good, our culture and our values all remain the fundamental core of the Bank and you, our people, are the foundation of this organisation.

Organisation Structure

Regions – We will consolidate our current eight regions into four regional businesses, each led by a Regional CEO and reporting to me. These will be Ben Hung for Greater China and North Asia; Sunil Kaushal for Africa and the Middle East; and Ajay Kanwal for ASEAN and South Asia. Ajay will be supported by Lim Cheng Teck who has agreed to be Vice Chairman ASEAN. These regional CEOs will have responsibility for our local clients and businesses; bottom line profitability and capital; relationships with local regulators; and will help drive conduct and compliance programmes in their regions.

Tracy Clarke will assume responsibility for Europe and the Americas. Richard Holmes, Regional CEO Europe & CEO UK, and Julio Rojas, Regional CEO, Americas & CEO US, will report to her. This region predominantly serves the Corporate & Institutional Banking business, so Tracy will work closely with Mark Dowie and his team.

Corporate and Institutional Banking – Global clients are best served through a global organisation that offers seamless global products. Corporate and Institutional Banking will include Transaction Banking, Corporate Finance and Financial Markets. Mark Dowie will act as the interim CEO and we will confirm a permanent CEO in due course.

Retail and Commercial – These clients have local and / or regional needs and we will run these businesses on a country basis with regional oversight. Karen Fawcett will run our Retail Banking business and Anna Marrs will run a broadened Commercial Banking business (which will include a portion of our local corporate business) and Private Banking. Wealth Management will also report to Anna.

Karen and Anna, as business CEOs, will ensure we have excellence and consistency in these businesses across regions. They will provide best-in class infrastructure; product innovation; consistency in standards; the highest levels of conduct; and key people development. They will also help ensure that our business priorities are managed properly in partnership with our regional CEOs.

Mark, Karen and Anna will report directly to me.

Global Functions

Finance, Technology and Operations will be managed globally and report to me, as will Risk which will continue to be run by Pam Walkden as interim Group Chief Risk Officer. Audit, as an independent function, will continue to report to the Board but on a day-to-day basis will have a line to me.

We are strengthening our compliance and legal capabilities and over the coming months will be working through a realignment of legal activities with the Group General Counsel’s office. In addition to assuming responsibilities for Legal, David Fein, Group General Counsel, will also take on Corporate Secretariat and Compliance will report to Tracy Clarke. Tracy will also continue to manage Human Resources.

Doris Honold will become our Group Chief Operating Officer. She will work closely with Michael Gorriz, Group Chief Information Officer, and the rest of the Management Team to best position our operational infrastructure across our regional and client businesses and will oversee the Chief Operating Officers for each business and region.

Steve Atkinson continues to manage Corporate Affairs and will take additional responsibility for our Corporate Office. While not a member of our Management Team, Steve will help ensure that the team operates seamlessly and that the support staff for the Management Team are co-ordinated.

Over the coming months we will seek to simplify our governance structures in line with our simpler management structure. We will also align our support functions with our businesses more fully.

Leadership Teams

Mike Rees, Deputy Group Chief Executive; Andy Halford, Group Chief Financial Officer; and I, as Executive Directors of the Group, will retain a Bank-wide perspective bridging between the Board and the Management Team.

Mike has a vast knowledge of the Bank, our clients and our markets. He has been, and will remain, a critical adviser to me and the rest of the Management Team. He will work closely with me on the formulation and execution of strategy, continue to play a key role with our larger client relationships, and will remain at the forefront of managing some of the key governance processes such as reputational risk and conflicts. In addition, I have asked Mike to review our brand and marketing and how we make Here for good an even more powerful advantage for the Bank. Brand and Marketing will therefore report to Mike.

Andy will continue to oversee the Finance; Treasury; Strategy; and Corporate Development functions and will assume responsibility for Investor Relations, CRES and Global Sourcing.

Our Management Team will have responsibility for executing the strategy agreed by the Board. We will re-constitute an Extended Management Team of senior managers who will act as a sounding board for our Management Team and from which we will draw for key strategic initiatives. In addition, our Leadership Team (formerly XLT), will continue to act as our communication conduit to the organisation.

What next?

The Management Team will start to meet with immediate effect and the new appointments will be effective from 1 October. We’ll be working on more detailed structures and appointments and will be in a position to share these with you by the time the Leadership Team meets in Singapore in mid-September. The simplified organisation structure will be phased in from 1 October and will be fully in place by 1 January 2016.

A number of our colleagues have decided to move on in their careers and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them. Diana Layfield and Annemarie Durbin both found it difficult to relocate into the roles for which they were considered so, together with Christos Papadopoulos, will be leaving the Bank. These are outstanding professionals whom we will miss. They will be transitioning between now and the end of the year.

Change is disruptive and unsettling but can also be energising. Let’s harness that energy to make Standard Chartered the best bank in the markets we serve and make the most of our extraordinary potential. That goal is well within our means.

Thanks for your support.
Bill