Standard Chartered Bank is a British bank headquartered in London with operations in more than 50 countries. It operates a network of over 1,600 branches (including subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures) and employs almost 60,000 people.
Despite its British base it has few customers in the United Kingdom and 90% of its profits come from the Asia Pacific Region, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. It now focuses on consumer, corporate and institutional banking, and on the provision of treasury services - areas in which the Group had particular strength and expertise. On Tuesday 18th September 2007, Standard Chartered plc agreed to buy American Express Bank for around $860 million.
