渣打宣布裁员1.5万人 StanChart to raise cash and cut jobs

Bill Winters has taken an axe to Standard Chartered, with the emerging market bank’s new chief executive revealing plans to raise 3.3bn in a rights issue while cutting 15,000 jobs.

新兴市场银行渣打(Standard Chartered)的新任首席执行官比尔温特斯(Bill Winters)宣布，计划通过配股募资33亿英镑，同时裁减1.5万职位。

StanChart said yesterday that the job cuts, out of a total workforce of 86,000, were part of a beefed-up restructuring programme to reduce costs by $2.9bn, after the bank suffered its first quarterly loss in 15 years.

现有8.6万员工的渣打昨日表示，此次裁员是一个加强版重组计划的一部分，目的是削减29亿美元成本。此前该行遭遇15年来首次季度亏损。

Mr Winters, a former JPMorgan investment banker hired by StanChart in May, presented details of a long-awaited strategic review, which includes moves to restructure or reduce $100bn of its $315bn of underperforming risk-weighted assets in the next three years, plans that he described as “aggressive and decisive”.

前摩根大通(JPMorgan)投行家、今年5月被渣打任命为CEO的温特斯，陈述了一项各方期待已久的战略评估的细节，包括在未来三年期间采取行动，将该行表现不佳的3150亿美元风险加权资产重组或减少1000亿美元。他形容这些计划是“大刀阔斧和果断的”。

The bank joins a number of European rivals that have recently laid out plans to cut jobs and assets, including Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse.

该行由此加入多家欧洲银行的行列，巴克莱(Barclays)、德意志银行(Deutsche Bank)和瑞信(Credit Suisse)等最近都宣布了裁员和减少资产的计划。

The announcements came after StanChart undershot analysts’ expectations with a quarterly loss of $139m — its first since the Asian financial crisis in 1999.

作出上述宣布之前，渣打最近报告了逊于分析师预期的1.39亿美元季度亏损，这是自1999年亚洲金融危机以来头一回出现亏损。

StanChart faces further potential problems after Mr Winters said that it was the subject of two investigations by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority into potential anti-money laundering and financial crime breaches. These are separate to a probe by US regulators into potential breaches of Iran sanctions.

渣打还面临更多潜在问题。温特斯披露，该行是英国金融市场行为监管局(FCA)两项调查的调查对象，这些调查针对反洗钱和金融犯罪方面的违规嫌疑。与此同时，该行还因涉嫌违反针对伊朗的制裁而受到美国监管机构调查。

Shares in the bank, which also scrapped its final dividend, were the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100, closing 6.7 per cent lower at 666p.

渣打还宣布不派发末期股息，该行股价昨日收盘下跌6.7%，至666便士，是富时100指数(FTSE 100)中跌幅最大的成份股。

StanChart’s UK-listed shares have halved in the past two years with investors fearing it has lost its way as emerging market economies slowed, the commodity cycle ended and regulators cracked down on misconduct.

渣打在英国上市的股票价格在过去两年里跌去了一半，原因是投资者担心，随着新兴市场经济放缓，大宗商品周期结束，以及监管机构打击违规行为，该行已迷失方向。

“The business environment in our markets remains challenging and our recent performance is disappointing,” said Mr Winters.

“我行所在市场的营商环境仍充满挑战，我行近期的表现令人失望，”温特斯承认。

The restructuring, designed to achieve a return on equity of 8 per cent by 2018 and 10 per cent by 2020, will cost the bank $3bn.

重组的目的是到2018年实现8%的股本回报率，到2020年实现10%的股本回报率。重组本身将给该行带来30亿美元成本。

Much of the hoped-for cost savings will be reinvested into better performing parts of the bank, such as private banking, Africa and renminbi services as well as improved technology and compliance.

在希望实现的成本节省中，相当大一部分将重新投入该行表现较好的部门，如私人银行、非洲及人民币业务，还有一部分将投资于技术和合规方面。

Some analysts were underwhelmed by StanChart’s plans. “Is 8 per cent return on equity by 2018 enough? It is not very inspiring,” said Ronit Ghose, analyst at Citigroup. “But maybe that is where banking is today.”

一些分析师对渣打的计划评价不高。“2018年达到8%的股本回报率就够了吗？这不是太令人振奋，”花旗集团(Citigroup)分析师罗妮特戈斯(Ronit Ghose)表示，“但或许今日银行业就是那个水平。”