StanChart to establish Singapore subsidiary

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Standard Chartered Plc said on Wednesday it will set up a subsidiary for its consumer and small business banking operations in Singapore.

The new unit will need to meet Singapore’s domestic bank capital rules.

“We have taken the decision in consultation with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and it is in line with their thinking,” the bank said in its annual results statement.

Regulators around the world are bringing in new rules to ensure banks’ retail operations are better-protected from any risk undertaken by the rest of their businesses following the 2008 financial crisis.

Standard Chartered, along with Citigroup Inc, is one of the biggest foreign players in Singapore’s consumer banking market. Citi already operates its Singapore consumer banking business as a subsidiary. Standard Chartered’s private and wholesale banking operations in Singapore will continue to operate as a branch.

“In the consumer and SME (small and medium enterprise) segments there are opportunities to continue to make market share gains, which we believe will be facilitated by moving to a locally incorporated structure,” it said.

Earlier, Standard Chartered announced it posted a ninth consecutive year of record earnings in 2011.