Standard Chartered's exceptional team is run by this female trader in Singapore

Standard Chartered's second quarter results are out today. They reveal that one particular team at the bank had an exceptional three months: its macro salespeople and traders. 

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Global macro sales and trading revenues at Standard Chartered rose 52% year-on-year in the second quarter, driving the bank's overall sales and trading revenues 47% higher. At HSBC, which reported yesterday, markets revenues were up 14.5%. 

Most banks don't break out macro sales and trading revenues specifically, making it difficult to quantify Standard Chartered's feat. Citi does, however, and its own macro revenues increased only 27%. Standard Chartered said "episodic income" drove its sales and trading revenues up in the second quarter, implying that its traders were successfully positioned for key volatility events.  

Standard Chartered recently hired a new head of global rates and FX trading in the form of John Newman, who joined in London in April after 25 years at UBS. In Singapore, though, the macro business is under the steady hand of Stephanie Keh, the head of Singapore macro trading at the bank, whose worked there for nearly 24 years since joining as a trainee after graduation.

Beyond the macro team, Standard Chartered is still cutting costs. The bank plans to cut expenses below $12.3bn by 2026, down from $12.5bn last year. It said today that it plans to make 40% of its run rate changes this year. The bank has been cutting jobs in Asia after moving 80 jobs from Singapore to India.  

As Standard Chartered cuts costs, though, costs are also rising. $161m of costs have been cut in the past year, but inflation and FX have added back in $61m and $54m respectively and business growth has added a further $169m. 

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