Christopher Keljik assumes responsibility for Middle East and South Asia

He retains his existing responsibilities for Audit, Risk Management, Special Asset Management and Corporate Affairs.

"Standard Chartered will remain focused on its growth strategy for the Middle East and South Asia region. Following the acquisition of Grindlays, we now have a leading position in many of the markets of the Middle East and South Asia," commented Mr Keljik.

"Our objective is to grow our customer base, to build on our world class product portfolio and to continue to provide a superior service to meet customer needs. We are committed to growing our business and playing a leading role in the region for many years to come."

The Middle East and South Asia region comprises UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Iran, the Jordan group, the Lebanon, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Group's businesses in the region employ around 3,000 people with a network of more than 80 branches and 95 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

Chris Keljik joined Standard Chartered in 1976 and was appointed to the Board on 7 May 1999. He has held a number of senior management positions within the Group in corporate finance, treasury and general management and worked for the Bank in London, Hong Kong and Singapore.

From 1993 to 1998 he was General Manager, Africa, responsible for the Group's businesses in Africa. These showed significant profit growth under his leadership. Before becoming a Group Executive Director, Chris was Group Head of External Affairs responsible for Government Relations, External and Internal Communications, and Investor Relations. He is based in London.