Chairman's Statement

Standard Chartered PLC
3 May 2001


The following remarks were made by Sir Patrick Gillam, Chairman, Standard
Chartered PLC today (3rd May 2001) at the Annual General Meeting held at the
Merchant Taylors' Hall, London.

'Last year I told you that we were well positioned to grow our business as the
Asian markets recovered from the economic turmoil of the late 1990s.  Our
results show this has been the case.

Operating profit, before the restructuring charge announced in August, was up
60 per cent at £811 million.  This excellent result was achieved at a time
when your company was going through a period of transformation.  We have
restructured the Group so that we are much less reliant on a few key products
and countries.

We have made great progress in building a bigger and more resilient business. 
Although there is some economic uncertainty ahead we remain confident about
our prospects.  We are therefore recommending a final dividend of 17.71 pence
per share.  This makes a total for the year of 25.135 pence, an increase of 10
per cent over last year.

In the 1990s the management of your company established Standard Chartered as
a leading and respected bank serving customers in the emerging markets of the
world.  When the Asian crisis occurred we had to decide whether to batten down
the hatches, or to take advantage of the opportunities we expected would arise
as our competitors either cut back or withdrew.  We chose the latter and have
since pursued a strategy to grow and strengthen the Bank both organically and
through acquisition.

Our growth strategy is about expanding our main markets, developing new major
markets, building on the strength of our non Asia Pacific businesses and
strengthening our links with multinational companies.

In line with this strategy, there have been a number of significant
achievements in the past year.  The most notable of these were the
acquisitions of Grindlays and of the consumer banking activities of Chase in
Hong Kong.  These were the two largest deals in your company's history.

We also sold Chartered Trust, our UK consumer finance business.  This finance
company produced excellent results through the years but did not fit our
strategy.

The acquisition in Hong Kong strengthened our core market and gave us a
leading position in credit cards.

The Grindlays acquisition establishes India as a business with the potential
to rival Singapore and Malaysia.  It also makes us the leading international
bank in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as well as strengthening our
position in the Gulf.

Technology and the internet are having an increasing affect on the way that
financial services companies operate.

Therefore, in order to position the company for the future, we have taken a
long hard look at how Standard Chartered is managed and how it operates.  As a
result, in August last year, we announced a three-year productivity programme.
 Over the period this will cost around £290 million in addition to the
restructuring charge of £213 million.  It will give us annual savings of £192
million from 2003.

There are three elements to this programme.  The first is to centralise our
processing and support functions into two global hubs, one in India the other
in Malaysia.  The second is to drive efficiencies in our organisational
structure including outsourcing, where appropriate.  The third is to deliver
cost synergies from our acquisitions.  We have already made good progress.

The emerging markets continue to provide us with opportunities that do not
exist in the developed world.  Growth rates in many of these countries are
still significantly higher.

This results in a rapidly growing middle class and increased demand for
personal loans, credit cards and wealth management products and services.

Unlike banks in the West we are not fighting for the same customers.  We are
fighting for our share of a growing customer base.  It is a very exciting
prospect.

The US has enormous significance in the world economy.  That economy is
slowing but by how much is not clear as the economic indicators are
contradictory; for example housing sales and consumption are both strong
despite the fall in the Stock Market.  The Federal Reserve has also shown
itself ready to take aggressive steps to stimulate the US economy.

Our best estimate is that we will see 1-2 per cent growth in the US in 2001. 
But what effect does that have on the places where we are strong?  We believe
that Hong Kong will slow but will be helped by US interest rate falls and the
revival of the Chinese economy.  This ran at over 8 per cent in the first
quarter and is forecast to grow at between 7 and 8 per cent in the year. 
India, like China, has a protected economy and should grow at around 5 per
cent.

Our other markets in Asia are slowing as US imports decline.  This inevitably
has an impact on our customers.

So far, our results for the year are in line with our expectations.

The past year has been one of transformation for Standard Chartered.  We have
delivered very good results while undertaking major projects to change the
shape of the Group.  The fact that we have been able to do this is a testimony
to the quality of our staff and the strength of our management throughout the
world.  I would like to thank everyone for their efforts and continuing
support.'


For further information please contact:

Pamela McGann, Group Head External Affairs - [phone]
Tim Halford, Director of Corporate Affairs - [phone]

www.standardchartered.com

Note to Editors:

Standard Chartered - the world's leading emerging markets bank

Standard Chartered is a London based, international bank focused on the
emerging markets of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.  It has
significant operations in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India,
Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and in sub-Saharan Africa.  Key businesses
are Consumer Banking, primarily credit cards, mortgages, personal loans and
wealth management, and Wholesale Banking, where the Bank specialises in the
provision of cash management, trade finance, treasury and custody services. 
The Group has a network of over 615 offices in more than 56 countries and
assets of approximately US$90 billion.  With a presence in Asia and Africa
that goes back nearly 150 years, Standard Chartered has an in-depth
understanding of, and a long term commitment to, the emerging markets.