LONDON (Reuters) - Standard Chartered's two largest investors have told the bank's chairman to find a replacement for Chief Executive Peter Sands within months, the Sunday Telegraph reported, without citing its sources.
The newspaper said Temasek [TEM.UL] and Aberdeen Asset Management, which between them own nearly a third of the bank's shares, had separately made it known to John Peace in the last few weeks that a succession plan for Sands must be put in place so he can leave by the end of the year.
Sands, who has been CEO of the Asia-focused bank since 2006, has come under increasing pressure after a troubled two years in which falling commodity prices and a slowdown in growth in many of its core emerging markets have contributed to an abrupt halt to a decade of record profits.
Earlier this month the bank moved to reverse its flagging fortunes by closing the bulk of its global equities business and axing 4,000 jobs in retail banking but Sands is under pressure to cut costs and bolster capital levels further.
The Telegraph reported that if Peace does not act, investors would ask him to step down to make way for a new chairman who would oversee the executive succession.
(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Gareth Jones)
