Standard Chartered shares reverse decline by 6.5pc

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

LONDON: Standard Chartered shares rebounded Wednesday, recouping some of the previous day's losses after New York state regulators accused it of hiding $250 billion in transactions with Iranian banks.

The bank's London share price rallied 6.47 percent to 1,308 pence in morning deals on the capital's FTSE 100 index of top companies, which was 0.37 percent lower at 5,819.42 points.

The stock had slumped 16.8 percent on Tuesday.

"Standard Chartered is once again attempting to stage a recovery ... as investors start to try and call an end to the sell-off, although trade in the stock remains two-way," said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at online brokerage Interactive Investor.

The Hong Kong-listed shares of Standard Chartered meanwhile rose more than two percent in volatile trade.

The British lender -- which focuses on Asia, the Middle East and Africa -- has denied allegations that it hid $250 billion in deals with Iranian banks for almost a decade in violation of US sanctions.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) on Monday accused the bank of systematically disguising foreign exchange deals with Iran that potentially opened the US banking system to terrorists and criminals.

The transactions mainly involved US dollar transfers for state-owned Iranian banks, including the central bank, that fell under US controls aimed at undermining Tehran's alleged nuclear weapons programme.