Standard Chartered mulls selling divisions

Standard Chartered bank is seeking to sell about six units in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday citing people familiar with the matter. The Asia-focused bank is in "advanced talks" to offload Standard Chartered Savings Bank and Standard Chartered Capital in South Korea, the WSJ said, but gave no details of any potential buyer. A company spokeswoman declined to comment on the report. The newspaper added that the divestments were "mostly small" and would also comprise Standard Chartered's Lebanese retail bank, its Hong Kong consumer-finance business PrimeCredit, its German consumer bank and its Swiss private bank. According to the WSJ, the deals are part of the bank's efforts to combat an emerging markets slowdown and worries about its financial health. Standard Chartered will publish its annual results on Wednesday. The London-based bank generates 90 percent of its profit in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.