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STANDARD CHARTERED BANK
EXECUTIVE REMUNERATION Standard Chartered hikes top bankers’ payouts to $1.6bn ... Emerging markets-focused bank records strong performance with profits up by 28% 
Standard Chartered is a London-based bank which focuses on emerging markets. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/16/standard-chartered-profits-top-bankers-payout Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Fairly early in my business life more than 40 years ago I was recruited to become the budget manager for a fairly large company heading into financial difficulties. The company had been a technology leader in the 1960s, but had made almost 50 poor investments during the years it was generating high profits and substantial cash flows. As budget manager, my real job was to figure out how to minimise the financial disaster that had been created as our company's technology leadership disappeared and others took over. The company had embraced 'budgeting' as a key management tool, but as I became involved in the budget dialog around the company's subsidiaries it became clear that the business relationship between cash flow and profit was not at all simple and very few managers in the companyy had much understanding of how profits got generated. This company had generated massive positive cash flows when it was in a position of technological leadership, but when it lost that edge almost everything fell apart. br> I am reminded of this because of the strong profits being reported by banks and financial institutions and being reminded somewhat of the old 'source of profit' analysis that I used to do as a budget manager in crisis mode, and how this might apply in the banking context. What are the economic activities that generate profit for the bank and what are the social and environmental benefits arising from the activities of the banks. br> This is not easy information ... and probably because the information would be detrimental to the reputation of the banking entity. br> It is becoming increasingly common knowledge that ESG reporting is largely 'green-washing' and not very impactful while corporate profit reporting and news of stockholder buy-backs are the matters that move the needle for investors, not matter what the (essentially unreported) social and environmental performance. Peter Burgess | ||
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Standard Chartered hikes top bankers’ payouts to $1.6bn
Emerging markets-focused bank records strong performance with profits up by 28% Kalyeena Makortoff ... Banking correspondent ... @kalyeena Thu 16 Feb 2023 05.15 EST Standard Chartered has hiked payouts for it top bankers, who are set to share a $1.6bn (£1.3bn) bonus pool after rising global interest rates pushed the lender’s profits up 28%. The London-headquartered but emerging markets-focused bank said it had increased staff bonuses by 16% in light of the fact that the bank had performed strongly despite “ongoing external challenges”, including the impact of the war in Ukraine. The bump in payouts also benefited the chief executive, Bill Winters, whose own pay rose 16% to $5.5m for 2022, thanks to a $2.5m bonus that rose in line with profits. But the top boss was outdone by at least one unnamed banker who was paid more than €13m (£11.5m) last year, according to Standard Chartered’s latest disclosures regarding its highest-earning staff. In total, 250 earned more than €1m last year, seven of whom were paid more than €5m. While the bank, which makes most of its profits in Asia but also operates in Africa and the Middle East, did not provide any details regarding its highest earners in its annual report, it said it had reacted to high inflation by making “targeted changes to salaries” to support colleagues in markets with the “most extreme economic conditions”. This resulted in a 6.6% rise in its average pay for its nearly-83,200 global staff, though the biggest increases were aimed at its most junior colleagues and those in countries hardest hit by rising prices. However, the same rising inflation trends have resulted in higher global interests rates that have ultimately benefited banks including Standard Chartered, which reported a 12% rise in net interest income. Net interest income accounts for the difference in what is earned from charges on loans and mortgages and what is paid out to savers. Even when accounting for a surge in the amount of cash it put aside for potential defaults, which rose from $263m to $838m, Standard Chartered reported a 28% rise in pre-tax profits to $4.3bn.
| The text being discussed is available at | https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/16/standard-chartered-profits-top-bankers-payout and |