BRAC, City in talks to take over StanChart’s retail business

Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) plans to wind down its retail banking operations in Bangladesh, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Two leading local private lenders, BRAC Bank and City Bank, have confirmed that they are in preliminary discussions with the foreign bank about taking over its retail business.

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“There was an initial discussion about taking over SCB’s retail operation. There is no update on the matter at this point,” said BRAC Bank Managing Director and CEO Tareq Refat Ullah Khan.

A senior City Bank official, seeking anonymity, also confirmed that the bank held an informal meeting with SCB, also known as StanChart, about a month and a half ago to discuss the matter.

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The official said StanChart was considering City Bank and BRAC Bank because of their strong reputations in the market.

However, he said the discussions were at a preliminary stage, as taking over another bank’s business involves several issues, including valuation, audits and regulatory approval.

“We are in the race,” he said.

The discussions come at a time when StanChart’s retail loan growth has remained largely stagnant, while its corporate lending has expanded significantly.

The bank’s consumer, SME and other retail loans grew 10 percent to Tk 8,087 crore over the past six years, from Tk 7,333 crore in 2020, according to its financial statements.

Over the same period, its corporate loans rose around 56 percent to Tk 22,337 crore from Tk 14,290 crore.

In 2020, StanChart’s corporate loans were 1.95 times the size of its consumer and SME loans. By 2025, the ratio had risen to 2.76 times, indicating that the bank’s asset growth has been driven largely by corporate and institutional banking.

StanChart’s net profit after tax stood at Tk 3,219 crore in 2025, down from Tk 3,300 crore a year earlier.

Despite the fragile state of the country’s banking sector, City Bank and BRAC Bank continue to report strong profits, which the lenders attribute to good corporate governance, customer service and financial health.

City Bank reported its highest-ever profit of Tk 1,324 crore in 2025, while BRAC Bank’s profit surpassed Tk 2,000 crore.

Arief Hossain Khan, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, confirmed that the central bank had learned of the plan but said no decision had been taken yet.

“Standard Chartered is a foreign bank, and it can make decisions based on its strategy,” he said. The central bank, however, hopes that employees of the retail business will not be terminated without following appropriate regulations and that the closure will not lead to any labour unrest, he added.

Earlier, Standard Chartered exited several markets in Africa and the Middle East. The bank also decided to leave Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, according to industry insiders.

Bitopi Das Chowdhury, country head of corporate affairs and brand & marketing at StanChart Bangladesh, said Standard Chartered Group continually assesses the effectiveness of its global business model.

“Where necessary, it takes action to focus resources where it has the most distinctive client proposition,” she said.

StanChart has been operating in Bangladesh for more than 120 years, with its first branch opening in Chattogram in 1905. It now has 18 branches across the country serving key economic centres.

In July last year, HSBC, another foreign bank, announced plans to wind down its retail banking operations in Bangladesh.

HSBC said the decision followed a review of its retail operations in the country and was part of the global HSBC Group’s portfolio strategy. The closure resulted in around 257 to 300 employees losing their jobs.