Standard Chartered lifts the carpet

In the first half, the bottom line was particularly hit by an increase in impairments, most notably in India, where worsening conditions for credit sent bad loan losses and provisions up to $483m (£310m), compared with just $56m in the comparable period in 2014. In South Korea, net interest income was down more than a fifth at $440m as the bank worked to reduce its unsecured lending portfolio - risk-weighted assets were down here by 15 per cent.

The bank's new boss, Bill Winters, hopes to provide a "fresh pair of eyes", and he has seen a lot that he wishes to change. The bank is committed to $1.8bn in cost savings over the next three years, and Mr Winters is focused on slashing bureaucracy, speeding up decisions, but also crucially on improving risk management. "We grew aggressively in certain markets, we accepted high concentrations by industry, by geography and by individual borrower, and we have found some weak operational controls that exposed the group to losses and fraud," he said.

Prior to the results, analysts at Investec were forecasting net tangible assets per share of 1,558¢ for the year-end, compared with 1,611¢ last December.