Standard Chartered tumbles after surprise departure of CFO De Giorgi

(Sharecast News) - Standard Chartered tumbled on Tuesday as it announced the surprise departure of chief financial officer Diego De Giorgi, who is stepping down with immediate effect to join Apollo as a partner and head of EMEA. The bank said it has appointed Peter Burrill as interim group CFO. Based in London, he will report directly to chief executive Bill Winters.

StanChart said an announcement on the permanent appointment of a CFO will follow in due course.

Burrill is currently group head, central finance and deputy chief financial officer at Standard Chartered Bank. Prior to joining the bank in 2017, he was group controller and co-head of group finance at Deutsche Bank.

He started his career at KPMG where he spent almost twenty years, including ten years in the US followed by ten years in Germany.

Bill Winters said: "As deputy CFO, Pete has extensive sectoral experience. He likewise provides valuable continuity to the leadership of our finance function and takes on the position as a well-regarded member of our global leadership team. Under his interim stewardship we remain well-positioned to capitalise on the strategic focus and momentum of our business."

In a separate announcement, Apollo said De Giorgi will succeed longtime partner Rob Seminara in the role of head of EMEA.

Apollo president Jim Zelter said: "We have known Diego for many years and believe he will be a terrific steward of business in this next phase, bringing significant industry experience and a European perspective.

"He starts in a position of strength, succeeding Rob who has overseen strong AUM growth, the formation of new businesses and a continued expansion in local markets during his tenure in Europe."

At 1000 GMT, StanChart shares were down 5.6% at 1,793p.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: "It's telling when a senior executive leaves a company and the share price slumps. Diego De Giorgi's shock departure from Standard Chartered effectively values him at £2 billion. This is the amount wiped off the bank's market value on the news he's going to asset manager Apollo.

"Normally, the departure of a numbers person from a company wouldn't move the dial. What's different with Standard Chartered is that De Giorgi was seen as next in line for the CEO job.

"Incumbent Bill Winters has been in the top role for nearly 11 years, approximately twice as long as the average tenure for a FTSE 100 CEO. That suggests Standard Chartered will be thinking seriously about long-term succession planning, and the board might be disappointed they didn't act fast enough to lock in De Giorgi."