Preference Share Repurchase

Standard Chartered PLC
11 November 2002

Not for release, publication or distribution in or into the United States,
Canada or Australia.

         Standard Chartered to Repurchase 8.9% Dollar Preference Shares

Standard Chartered PLC ('Standard Chartered' or 'the Company') announces a
tender offer to purchase for cash its 8.9% non-cumulative dollar preference
shares at US$1,110 per dollar preference share plus an amount equal to accrued
but unpaid dividends to the date of purchase.

In September 2002 the Company wrote to its ordinary shareholders to seek their
authority to make market purchases of its preference shares.

The Board noted then the importance of the Company operating with an efficient
balance sheet. While it is important to have a capital base which is adequate to
allow the business to grow in all areas which appear to offer an appropriate
balance between risk and profitability, it is equally important that the Company
does not carry excessive amounts of capital and that it uses the most
appropriate mix of capital instruments in the balance sheet.

The repurchase authority was granted at an extraordinary general meeting of the
Company held on 7 October 2002.

The tender offer

The principal features of the tender offer are as follows:


  • the purchase for cash of the dollar preference shares at US$1,110 per
    dollar preference share, plus an amount equal to all accrued (but unpaid)
    dividends per dollar preference share up to (but excluding) the settlement
    date, which is expected to be Wednesday 4 December 2002; and

  • the tender offer will close at 5.00 p.m. (London time) on Friday 29
    November 2002.

The tender offer is conditional and may be terminated in certain circumstances.
Full details of the tender offer, including details of the tendering procedure
and of the terms and conditions on which the tender offer is made, are set out
in a circular dated today's date relating to the tender offer.


The tender offer is being made by UBS AG, acting through its business group UBS
Warburg on behalf of the Company. Cazenove & Co. Ltd is acting as financial
advisor to the Company.



                                     -Ends-

For further information please contact:

At the Company

Steve Seagrove, Group Head of Corporate Affairs on [phone]

Ben Hung, Head of Investor Relations on [phone]

Paul Marriage, Head of Media Relations on [phone]

At UBS Warburg

Richard Johnson on [phone]

Mark Leahy on [phone]

Frank Kennedy on [phone]

At Cazenove

John Paynter on [phone]

James Douglas on [phone]

Richard Locke on [phone]



Standard Chartered is the world's leading emerging markets bank. It employs
28,000 people in over 500 offices in more than 50 countries in the Asia Pacific
Region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, United Kingdom and the Americas.


The Bank serves both Consumer and Wholesale banking customers. Consumer Banking
provides credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, deposit taking and wealth
management services to individuals and small/medium sized businesses. The
Wholesale Bank provides services to multinational, regional and domestic
corporate and institutional clients in trade finance, cash management, custody,
lending, foreign exchange, interest rate management and debt capital markets.

With nearly 150 years in the emerging markets the Bank has unmatched knowledge
and understanding of its customers in its markets. Standard Chartered recognises
its responsibilities to its staff and to the communities in which it operates.



In connection with the tender offer, UBS Warburg Ltd., which is regulated in the
United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority, is acting for Standard
Chartered and no-one else and will not be responsible to any other person for
providing the protections afforded to its customers or providing advice in
relation to the tender offer.

In connection with the tender offer, Cazenove & Co. Ltd, which is regulated in
the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority, is acting for Standard
Chartered and no-one else and will not be responsible to any other person for
providing the protections afforded to its customers or providing advice in
relation to the tender offer.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange