Abstract

Standard Chartered Private Bank (SCPB), a subsidiary of the UK based Standard Chartered Bank, started operations in June 2007. In September 2007, SCPB announced that it would acquire American Express Bank (AEB), American Express Company’s private banking subsidiary. With the acquisition of AEB, SCPB gained immediate access into 19 new geographies. AEB added 10,000 clients and US$ 22.5 billion of assets under management. Standard Chartered Bank had most of its presence in Asian countries where as AEB had presence in developed markets like the US and the UK. Standard Chartered had a strong brand image among its customers and SCPB could leverage that to garner market share in the private banking industry. However, the merged entity faced competition from banks like the UBS and Citibank which had significant presence in the private banking industry. The global economic slowdown also posed significant challenge for SCPB to grow and emerge as one of the leading private banks in the world.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Study the state of global private banking industry.
• Examine the opportunities and challenges for SCPB post acquisition of AEB.
• Evaluate the financial performance of SCPB after its integration with AEB.
• Analyze the open architecture business model in the private banking industry.

Keywords

Standard Chartered Bank, American Express Bank, American Express Company, Private Banking, Acquisition, Dollar Clearing Business, Acquisition Deal Synergies, Regulatory Issues, Hsinchu International Bank, Consumer Banking, Investment Management, Commercial Banking, Integration Issues, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Organization Structure, Cash Management, Integration Expenditure