Standard Chartered Singapore

Standard Chartered Singapore (officially Standard Chartered (Singapore) Limited) is the Singapore based subsidiary of British banking and financial services company, Standard Chartered. Opening its first branch in 1859, the bank is one of the oldest in continuous operation in Singapore.[1] The bank received its Qualifying Full Bank (QFB) licence in October, 1999, being one of the first foreign bank to qualify for the licence.[4]

Standard Chartered (Singapore) Limited
IndustryBanking, Financial services
Predecessor
  • Standard Chartered, Singapore Branch
Founded1859; 165 years ago (1859),[1] Singapore, Straits Settlements
Headquarters,
Area served
  • Singapore
  • Worldwide (Private banking)
Key people
Patrick Lee (CEO)
ServicesCredit cards
Consumer banking
Corporate banking
Investment banking
Mortgage loans
Private banking
Wealth management
IncreaseUS$ 652 million (2019)[2]
IncreaseUS$ 104 million (2019)[2]
Total assetsIncreaseUS$ 27.236 billion (2019)[2]
Number of employees
1,400 (2016)[3]
Websitewww.sc.com/sg/

The bank (Standard Charted (Singapore) Limited) was officially incorporated in 2013 to handle Standard Chartered's Singapore Consumer Banking retail and SME banking business.[5] In 2018, operations of Standard Chartered in Singapore was merged with Standard Chartered Singapore, with the Qualifying Full Bank (QFB) licence transferred to the company. It currently operates a network of 19 branches, 7 Priority Banking centres and 31 ATMs in the country.[6][7][8] The number of ATMs available for customers is expanded through its shared network under the atm5 network with Citibank Singapore, HSBC, State Bank of India, Maybank, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of China.

History edit

 
Former Standard Chartered Building (far right).

1860s to 1980s: Founding and establishment of first branch edit

Opened in early 1859, the bank, then known as Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, started off as an agency and was situated in a 3 storey tall building located between Flint Street and Battery Road, with the third floor being used for staff accommodations.[9] In 1861, the bank was upgraded to a branch and over the following decades, it printed bank notes in Malaya.[10][11] In 1913, the bank acquired land situated between Bonham Street and Battery Road and constructed a new building to house its operations in Singapore. The building which was 4 storeys tall, was completed in 1916 and at that time it also housed the Singapore Chamber of Commerce and Exchange.[12]

Construction of a 44 storey tall skyscraper at Battery Road for the bank's head office was completed in 1984. The building, which was known as the Standard Chartered Building, was the largest Standard Chartered building worldwide and it also represented the largest single investment by a British company at that point of time.[13] Officially opened on 24 October 1984 by Anthony Barber, then chairman of the Standard Chartered Bank, the building stood on the site of the bank's first branch when it was first opened in 1859.[14] In 1986, Khoo Teck Puat, the founder of Maybank acquired a significant stake for US$100 million in the bank's parent, Standard Chartered and later became the single largest shareholder of the banking group.[15][16] Following his death in 2004, the stake valued at £2.3 billion was acquired by Temasek Holdings in 2006, making the investment arm of the Government of Singapore its largest shareholder.[17]

2000s to present: Local incorporation edit

In 2007, Standard Chartered opened its private banking global headquarters in Singapore[18] and in 2011, the bank moved its Singapore cooperate office to the Marina Bay Financial Centre, after being situated in Raffles Place since 1859.[19] On October 7, 2013, Standard Chartered officially incorporated a local subsidiary of the bank, Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited. Following the incorporation, the bank's Singapore Consumer Banking retail and SME banking business was transferred to the new subsidiary.[5] In 2018, the operations of Standard Chartered was eventually merged into Standard Chartered Singapore, consolidating all of the group's Singapore operations and becoming the first major foreign bank to do so in Singapore.[6]

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon edit

Beginning in 1982, the Singapore Marathon, also known as the Standard Chartered Marathon, is an annual international marathon held on the first Sunday of every December. It is the first competitive marathon in Singapore with an estimated participation size of 15,000 runners at its inaugural race on December 5, 1982.[20] Since then, the race has grown to attract many international marathoners to participate in the annual race and the 2013 event attracted a total of 60,000 entrants for all categories.

Incidents edit

In 2017, Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon announced its bid to join the Abbott World Marathon Majors event.[21] In 2019, the full- and half-marathons were held in the evening in order to fulfil criteria to be listed in the Abbott World Marathon Majors, instead of the usual flag off timing at dawn. This caused major traffic disruptions as traffic was at a standstill for 3 hours and drew criticism from the public as wedding banquets held in town also encountered problems, with guests and vendors unable to make the functions in time.[22]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Standard Chartered celebrates 160 years in Singapore". The Business Times. February 19, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Largest Banks Asia Pacific". The Asian Banker. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  3. ^ "0527 Speech by Min Lim at Official Opening of Standard Chartered at Changi 2". Ministry of Manpower, Singapore. May 27, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  4. ^ "About Us - Standard Chartered Singapore". Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Standard Chartered announces composition of Board of Directors for new locally incorporated subsidiary" (PDF). Standard Chartered (Singapore). October 1, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "StanChart first major foreign bank to consolidate all Singapore operations". The Business Times. February 23, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "StanChart transfers rest of Singapore operations to locally incorporated unit". The Straits Times. February 22, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  8. ^ "Standard Chartered Singapore Branches and Opening Hours". BanksinSG.COM. 2020-02-11. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  9. ^ "The Chartered Bank's new premises". NewspaperSG, National Archives of Singapore. December 31, 1894. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  10. ^ Niv Horesh (2014). Shanghai's Bund and Beyond: British Banks, Banknote Issuance, and Monetary Policy in China, 1842–1937. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-14362-1.
  11. ^ "Collection of Historical banknotes—Hong Kong, Shanghai, China" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  12. ^ "The Chartered Bank". NewspaperSG. September 29, 1916. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  13. ^ "6 Battery Road". CapitaLand. Archived from the original on 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
  14. ^ "Occasion for a lord and a 'lion' to meet". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 25 October 1984. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  15. ^ "History runs in a circle for both Khoos in $290 m deal". NewspaperSG. March 1, 1981. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  16. ^ "Khoo death a twist to StanChart stake saga". South China Morning Post. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  17. ^ "Singapore snaps up 12 per cent stake in Standard Chartered bank". The Independent. March 28, 2006. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  18. ^ "Standard Chartered sets up private banking HQ in Singapore". Newsgd.com. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  19. ^ "Window To The Past, Portal To The Future". Monetary Authority of Singapore. February 13, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  20. ^ "Roads to be closed for 15,000 runners". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  21. ^ "Standard Chartered Marathon bids to join World Marathon Majors". Channel News Asia. April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  22. ^ "Standard Chartered Marathon should not shut down city in land-scarce S'pore on Saturday evening, thousands agree". Mothership.sg. Retrieved 2019-12-02.

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