Standard Chartered has appointed Manus Costello as its permanent chief financial officer (CFO), succeeding Diego De Giorgi, who resigned in February 2026 after serving nearly three years with the bank.
Costello will now assume a bigger role within the organisation, as, apart from being the permanent CFO, he will also join the board as an executive director. It is to be noted that De Giorgi left the Asia- and Africa-focused lender to join Apollo Global Management as head of the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) region.
“De Giorgi’s departure was seen by some analysts as a major blow to the bank. He had been viewed as a contender to succeed Winters, who vowed to stay and see through the group’s next strategy phase, which could last around three years,” reported Reuters previously.
Costello, who joined Standard Chartered in 2024 as the global head of investor relations, has 25 years of experience in equity research, including as a founding partner and global head of research at Autonomous. He was also at Merrill Lynch for 10 years in equity research based in London and New York. In his new role, Costello will be based in London and will report directly to Group CEO Bill Winters.
“He has made a significant contribution to the group’s strategic positioning and engagement of stakeholders while also bringing strong rigour and an entrepreneurial mindset to the role. This will further benefit Standard Chartered as we move forward into our next phase of growth and deliver on our medium-term financial objectives,” Winters said in a statement.
Costello’s appointment came just a day before the bank’s group strategy update on May 18. The market anticipates a set of renewed growth plans from the organisation as the lender approaches the end of an internal revamp during which it made a slew of cost-effective measures and divestitures.
Among other key appointments, StanChart has made Tanuj Kapilashrami as the bank’s group chief operating officer (COO). She is currently chief strategy and talent officer. Under Winters’ leadership, Standard Chartered posted a better-than-expected 17% profit gain for Q1 2026, gaining from the Gulf countries’ efforts to raise funds via bond issuance. However, the venture ended up registering a USD 190 million charge to cover expected losses from the Iran war.