By Agency Reporter

Friday, 24 Dec 2010

Standard Chartered Plc directors sold about £5.3m ($8.2m) worth of shares in the bank this month, after the company said 2010 costs were rising faster than revenue.

Seven executives including Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Peter Sands and Finance Director, Mr. Richard Meddings, have trimmed their holdings since December 10, according to the company’s filings. Head of the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, Viswanathan Shankar, sold about 150,000 shares. That cut his stake to 21,513 shares, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Reuters, however, said on Thursday that a spokesman for London-based Standard Chartered was not immediately available to comment.

Standard Chartered gained 16 per cent to 1766 pence between January and the close of trading in London on Wednesday, and is the best-performer among the top 25 European banks since the start of the credit crisis in July 2007.

Source: Punch