In 2000, Standard Chartered acquired Grindlays Bank from ANZ Bank, increasing its presence in private banking and further expanding its operations in India and Pakistan.[4] Standard Chartered retained Grindlays' private banking operations in London and Luxembourg and the subsidiary in Jersey, all of which it integrated into its own private bank. This now serves high net worth customers in Hong Kong, Dubai, and Johannesburg under the name Standard Chartered Grindlays Offshore Financial Services. In India, Standard Chartered integrated most of Grindlays' operations, making Standard Chartered the largest foreign bank in the country.
On 15 April 2005, the bank acquired Korea First Bank, beating HSBC in the bid.[5] Since then the bank has rebranded the branches as SC First Bank.
Standard Chartered completed the integration of its Bangkok branch and Standard Chartered Nakornthon Bank in October, renaming the new entity Standard Chartered Bank (Thailand).[6] Standard Chartered also formed strategic alliances with Fleming Family & Partners to expand private wealth management in Asia and the Middle East, and acquired stakes in ACB Vietnam, Travelex, American Express Bank in Bangladesh and Bohai Bank in China.
On 9 August 2006 Standard Chartered announced that it had acquired an 81% shareholding in the Union Bank of Pakistan in a deal ultimately worth $511 million.[7] This deal represented the first acquisition by a foreign firm of a Pakistani bank and the merged bank, Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan), is now Pakistan's sixth largest bank.
On 22 October, 2006 Standard Chartered announced that it had received tenders for more than 51 per cent of the issued share capital of Hsinchu International Bank (“Hsinchu”), established in 1948 in Hsinchu province in Taiwan.[8] Standard Chartered, which had first entered Taiwan in 1985, acquired majority ownership of the bank, Taiwan’s seventh largest private sector bank by loans and deposits as at 30 June, 2006. Standard Chartered merged its existing three branches with Hsinchu's 83, and then delisted Hsinchu International Bank, changing the bank's name to Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) Limited). Prior to the merger, Hsinchu had suffered extensive losses on defaulted credit card debt.
In 2007, Standard Chartered opened its Private Banking global headquarters in Singapore.[9]
On 23 August, 2007 Standard Chartered entered into an agreement to buy a 49 percent of an Indian brokerage firm (UTI Securities) for $36 million in cash from Securities Trading Corporation of India Ltd., with the option to raise its stake to 75 percent in 2008 and, if both partners agree, to 100 percent by 2010.[10] UTI Securities offers broking, wealth management and investment banking services across 60 Indian cities.
On 29 February 2008, Standard Chartered PLC announced it has received all the required approvals leading to the completion of its acquisition of American Express Bank Ltd (AEB) from the American Express Company (AXP). The total cash consideration for the acquisition is US$823 million.[11]
On 12 September 2009, The Times newspaper in the United Kingdom reported that Standard Chartered had signed a record equaling £20million a season sponsorship deal with Liverpool FC to commence at the start of the 2010/2011 English Premier League season and last for four years. [12] Liverpool football club announced on the club's official website on 14 September 2009 that Standard Chartered bank will be the new shirt sponsor starting from 2010 to 2014.
On 27 November 2009, Dow Jones Financial News reported the city of Dubai will restructure its largest corporate entity. Standard Chartered is the most significantly impacted financial institution with $7.77bn in loan exposure to Dubai and the UAE. This amounts to 4.2% of Standard Charter's total loans outstanding. Other impacted banks included HSBC, Barclays, and RBS.[13]