Weather Tonight: 9°c Light showers Morning: 14°c Overcast

Business

HEADLINES:
Mervyn Davies
Standard response: "I do not believe the crisis is over," said Davies

Standard Chartered boss warns crisis is far from over

Nick Goodway
07.05.08

A senior British banker today warned that the credit crunch is a long way from finished, in direct contradiction to recent comments by many of his counterparts in America.

Standard Chartered chairman Mervyn Davies said: "We will continue to see volatility in these markets. I do not believe the crisis is over."

The bank revealed it had lost a further $98 million (£49.7 million) and written down a further $156 million on asset-backed securities in the first quarter - still much less than most of its rivals.

Davies said: "There are many lessons to be learned: first, it is a cyclical industry; second, liquidity is key - just as important, if not more so, as credit evaluation; third, mispricing for risk can have fatal consequences; fourth, compensation arrangements need to be carefully controlled - if not controlled, compensation can negatively affect behaviour and risk management; and finally, we are part of a global industry where good and bad news, capital and, indeed, people cross borders at lightning speed.

"Who would have thought that a global credit crunch, which originated in the subprime mortgage crisis in the US, could spread so quickly and lead to the collapse of a UK bank?"

Davies told today's annual general meeting that Standard Chartered remained "a well-capitalised bank, a highly liquid bank and a profitable bank". He added that it had made a "very good start to the year".

Reader views (0)

 Add your view

No comments have so far been submitted.


Add your comment

 

Your email address will not be published

Terms and conditions make text area bigger You have  characters left.


 
Market Roundup
MONDAY UPDATE

Morgan Stanley casts cloud over Thomas Cook and Tui

Fresh weakness in the dollar gave a further boost to commodity prices which, in turn, brought in the buyers for mining shares

More



City Spy, cityspy@standard.co.uk

To be Frank, he’s a heroin of our time

“It's been a while since Frank Timis graced City Spy so a big shout out to the former boss of Regal Petroleum who told the market he'd found a whole load of oil in Greece only for it to turn out he hadn't

More

CitiDirect.co.uk - Directory Enquiry Service for UK Businesses

CitiDirect.co.uk - Directory Enquiry Service for UK Businesses
Service Area or postcode