Standard Chartered 'may quit London over tax'

Standard Chartered, the London-based emerging markets bank, today would not rule out quitting the UK if new regulation and tax regimes for the industry are not applied equally across the world.

Asked if it could be forced to move it headquarters away from London, finance director Richard Meddings said: "We have certainly reflected more on that in the last year or so but that does not mean it is any closer to happening.

"It is something one has to consider if the regulatory regime here is well ahead of other regimes. But we still get a lot of benefit from being here in the UK."

He said Standard Chartered was "broadly supportive" of the bulk of tighter rules on balance sheet strength and bankers' pay planned respectively by Basel III and the G20.

But he added: "When it comes to remuneration many banks from other jurisdictions with whom we compete are not controlled by the same rules and are at a competitive advantage. Only 2,000 of our 81,000 staff work in the UK but the rules apply globally for us."

Meddings was speaking as Standard Chartered reported a 10% rise in profits, a 10% rise in earnings and a 10% rise in dividends. Pre-tax profits rose to $3.12 billion (£1.96 billion).

He said the bank had seen strong growth across most of its geographic regions with China and Indonesia leading the way in Asia closely followed by India. He also pointed out that bad debt write-offs had fallen by 60%.