Standard Chartered Share Price (STAN) - Buy STAN Shares

A truly international bank, Standard Chartered PLC emerged from the joining of the Standard Bank of British South Africa and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China in 1969. Today the company has over 1700 branches in more than 70 countries globally including those of Asia Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, the UK and Europe as well as the Americas. In 1986 the bank saw off a hostile takeover bid by UK bank, Lloyds and since then Standard Chartered have tended to focus on developing strong, profitable franchises throughout Asia, Africa and the Middle East – the areas in which they still have the largest influence.

The bank's main focuses are on corporate, consumer and institutional banking although they also act as a Treasury bank in some countries. Since 2000 Standard Chartered PLC have acquired a number of subsidiary companies including Grindlays Bank from the ANZ Group and Hong Kong's Chase Consumer Banking. They also bought the international banking division of American Express in 2008 which gave them an even bigger percentage of the international banking market. Their regular acquisitions have helped to strengthen their market presence throughout Asia and the Middle East whilst also bolstering their share prices and making them a household name in other parts of the globe. Standard Chartered have been, for the last 12 months at least, consistently placed in the top 25 FTSE100 companies and their continued growth currently makes them one of the largest international banks to date.