Stanchart: Profit to fall as rules tighten

Standard Chartered (StanChart) warned yesterday of lower profits this year after a 20 percent slump in first-half earnings, as tougher regulations and low market volatility hit its trading business. The bank said the head of its financial markets business, Lenny Feder, would take a one-year sabbatical and would not return in the same role. Revenue from the financial markets business, which includes equities, commodities, foreign exchange and other capital markets activities, was set to fall by a fifth in the first half from a year ago, StanChart said. Last year the bank posted its first fall in full-year profit for a decade and it had been expected to bounce back modestly this year. – Reuters