Standard Chartered PLC is a British multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in London, England. It operates a network of more than 1,200 branches and outlets across more than 70 countries and employs around 87,000 people

History of the Standard Charted Bank

The name Standard Chartered comes from the names of the two banks from which it was formed by merger in 1969: The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, and Standard Bank of British South Africa

Establishment of Charted Bank

The Chartered Bank began when Queen Victoria granted a Royal Charter to Scotsman James Wilson in 1853. Chartered opened its first branches in Mumbai, Kolkata and Shanghai in 1858, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore in 1859.

The Bank started issuing banknotes of the Hong Kong dollar in 1862.

Establishment of Standard Bank

The Standard Bank was a British bank founded in the Cape Province of South Africa in 1862 by Scot, John Paterson. Having established a considerable number of branches, Standard was prominent in financing the development of the diamond fields of Kimberley from 1867 and later extended its network further north to the new town of Johannesburg

Merger of Both Banks

Both banks acquired other smaller banks along the way and spread their networks further. In 1969, the banks decided to merge and to counterbalance their network by expanding in Europe and the United States, while continuing expansion in their traditional markets in Asia and Africa.

In 1986, Lloyds made a hostile takeover bid for the Group.
The bid was defeated; however, it spurred Standard Chartered into a period of change, including a series of divestments notably in the US and South Africa.

Union Bank was sold to the Bank of Tokyo and United Bank of Arizona was sold to Citicorp. In 1987, Standard Chartered sold its remaining interests in the South African bank; since then the Standard Bank Group has been a separate entity.

Standard Chartered has over 86,000 employees globally and has operations in 70 markets. The bank is divided into two divisions, plus Global Business Services: The Consumer Bank and the Wholesale Bank.