British banking group Standard Chartered may consider shifting its global headquarters to Asia and spinning off of India business into a subsidiary at its board meeting in India on March 23.
The two issues will be discussed in the board meet though there is no certainty on a decision either way as of now, The Economic Times has reported citing two bankers familiar with the matter.
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Sunil Kaushal, who heads the bank’s operations in South Asia, said: "India is one of our key markets. Issues such as subsidiarisation have to be discussed on an on going basis. I am in no position to comment on what the board would discuss at this point in time. Speculations on moving headquarters have been going on for years. This is reviewed on an on going basis. Immediately there is nothing on the table as of now."
The London-based banking major generates almost 90% of its earnings from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and has no retail banking operations in the UK.
For some time now, the bank is mulling the idea of shifting its base to somewhere in Asia, either Singapore or Hong Kong, and converting its Indian arm into a separate subsidiary.
Last month it replaced its longest serving CEO Peter Sands with Bill Winter, an investment banking specialist who worked in JP Morgan Chase.
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By GlobalDataThe bank also announced that CEO Asia and group executive director Jaspal Bindra will depart from the board in April.
