Stanchart Europe, West Asia chief Shankar resigns

Standard Chartered Plc said Viswanathan Shankar, who runs the Europe, West Asia, Africa and Americas unit, has resigned, as the bank continues to overhaul its senior management.

Shankar, 57, will step down from the board on April 30, the London-based bank stated on Wednesday. The lender also hired Jonathan Paul, founder of Ardmore Park Capital, as group head of financial markets, based in Singapore, and named Sumit Dayal as group head of its corporate finance unit.

"I would like to thank Shankar for the service he has given to Standard Chartered over 13 years," Chairman John Peace in the statement said. "These new appointments further demonstrate the substantial progress we are making in attracting and developing top leadership talent to the group."

Standard Chartered in February hired Bill Winters, former joint head of investment banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co., to be its new chief executive officer to turn around the Asian-focused lender, which was the worst-performing bank stock in Britain last year. As a result of Wednesday's change, the board will comprise three executive directors as part of a plan to reduce its size.