Standard Chartered’s Q2 Results

Standard Chartered has released its second-quarter results today, highlighting that certain teams, specifically macro salespeople and traders, enjoyed an exceptional three-month period.

Interestingly, the bank’s revenues from global macro sales and trading increased by 52% compared to last year, outpacing the overall sales and trading revenue by 47%. This growth came as the market revenues saw a 14.5% rise, as noted from HSBC’s report yesterday.

While most banks typically don’t break down their macro sales and transaction revenues, making it tricky to put Standard Chartered’s achievements into perspective, it’s worth mentioning that Citi experienced a more modest increase of 27% in its macro revenue. The bank attributed its strong sales and trading results in the second quarter to “episode revenue,” suggesting that traders capitalized on significant market volatility.

In recent news, Standard Chartered appointed John Newman as the head of Forex trading. Newman joined the bank after a long tenure at UBS, marking his return to London after 25 years. Meanwhile, in Singapore, the macro business is managed by Stephanie Ke, who has nearly 24 years with the bank, starting as a trainee after graduation.

On the cost management front, Standard Chartered continues to focus on reducing expenses, aiming to lower them to below $12.3 billion by 2026, a decrease from $12.5 billion last year. The bank has stated intentions to adjust its operational run rate this year to 40% while also cutting jobs in Asia, shifting 80 positions from Singapore to India.

However, even with cost reductions totaling $161 million, Standard Chartered is facing increased costs. Inflation and foreign exchange pressures contributed $61 million and $54 million, respectively, while business growth added another $169 million to the expenses.