Standard Chartered has hired executive search firm Egon Zehnder to find a successor to chief executive officer Peter Sands, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Standard Chartered's largest shareholders have told the bank they want Sands, 53, replaced, a second person familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the succession plan was private.
Investors would prefer a candidate from outside the firm, such as an executive at emerging-markets-focused lender HSBC Holdings, the person said.
The CEO is the bookmakers' favourite UK leader to depart this year after slowing economic growth in Asia and rising costs for bad loans prompted the bank to cut its earnings forecast three times in 2014. Aberdeen Asset Management and state-owned Singapore investment firm Temasek, the two largest shareholders, had been pressing chairman John Peace to develop a succession plan, one of the people said.
"While there's no surprise Sands is under pressure, it's not good to see the CEO in the news," said Christopher Wheeler, an analyst at Atlantic Equities in London, with a neutral rating on the shares. "It's very untidy and people hate instability. It's not clear who will take the role next and what they'll bring to the table."
The shares fell as much as 2.3 per cent, the most of any large British lender, and traded 1.2 per cent lower at 939.6 pence. The shares fell 29 per cent last year.
"Peter and the management team are focused on executing the group's refreshed strategy, delivering growth, cost savings and shareholder returns, and have the full support of the board in achieving this," Jonathan Tracey, a company spokesman based in London, said in an e-mailed statement. The UK Telegraph reported Temasek and Aberdeen were pushing for a replacement for Sands on Saturday.
Tessa Curtis, a spokeswoman for Egon Zehnder in London, and Hugh Young, a Singapore-based managing director at Aberdeen, declined to comment on Monday.
