Bank boss insists ‘no grounds’ for revoking licence

Standard Chartered chief executive Peter Sands hit back at a New York regulator’s claims the bank broke US sanctions, and said he saw “no grounds” for revoking the lender’s licence.

Standard Chartered has fallen about 16% in London trading this week after New York regulator Benjamin Lawsky threatened to strip the London-based bank of its licence to operate in the state, alleging it processed $250bn of deals with Iranian banks subject to sanctions.

“We reject the position and portrayal of facts by the department of financial services,” Mr Sands told reporters, his first public comments since the regulator’s report on Monday.