The departing group chief financial officer joined the bank in January 2024. An interim CFO has been named. Investors appeared taken aback and shares were down sharply yesterday morning.

Shares in Standard Chartered were down as much as 5.9 per cent late-morning yesterday in London after the bank said Diego De Giorgi (main photo) is to step down as group chief financial officer “with immediate effect.”

Peter Burrill, deputy CFO and group head, central finance, will hold the vacated position ad interim.

De Giorgi – who some media reports said had been tipped to take over from CEO Bill Winters – has joined Apollo Global Management, where he will be partner and head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. De Giorgi, who joined Standard Chartered in 2023, is a big-hitter in the alternatives space. The firm had about $938 billion of assets under management at the end of 2025.

In the 12 months to yesterday, shares in the bank have risen about 64 per cent, matching a general rise in stocks for European banks over the past year. The timing of the move is a jolt for Standard Chartered, which is due to issue fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 financial results on 24 February. The bank earns the bulk of its revenues outside the UK. Standard Chartered, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index of blue-chip UK stocks, underperformed this benchmark, which was down 0.22 per cent around 11:00 GMT yesterday.

In a statement issued on 9 February, Apollo, the alternative investments house, said: “De Giorgi will succeed longtime Apollo partner Rob Seminara in the role, who will remain in the region to support a successful transition before assuming new, global responsibilities for Apollo later this year.”

In its statement today, Standard Chartered said that Burrill will be based in London, reporting to Winters. An announcement about a permanent CFO will be made “in due course.” Burrill, who joined the bank in 2017, previously worked as co-head of group finance at Deutsche Bank, and started his career at KPMG. He has spent a decade each working in the US and Germany.

“As deputy CFO, Pete has extensive sectoral experience. He likewise provides valuable continuity to the leadership of our finance function and takes on the position as a well-regarded member of our global leadership team. Under his interim stewardship we remain well-positioned to capitalise on the strategic focus and momentum of our business,” Winters said. “I thank Diego for his contribution as GCFO, including his valuable support in executing on our strategy. We wish him well for the future.”

Background

De Giorgi has served in the group CFO slot since January 2024. Previously, he spent more than six years with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, including as global head of investment banking and as co-head of corporate and investment banking, EMEA. Before that, he spent more than 18 years with Goldman Sachs, where he was a partner and held a series of leadership roles of escalating responsibility within its investment bank. 

De Giorgi, who is a graduate in economics and business administration from Università Bocconi, earned a CEMS master's degree in international management from the London School of Economics. He serves on the board of trustees of the MIB Trieste School of Management.

“I have long viewed Apollo as one of the most innovative firms in financial services, and this is an especially meaningful time for me to be a part of its growth journey as European companies, economies and investors demand the types of long-term solutions Apollo brings to bear,”  De Giorgi said in a statement from Apollo. "I am excited to leverage the breadth of my experience in working with clients, regulators, banking partners and the broader financial services sector to lead Apollo’s EMEA business in this next phase alongside an impressive group of colleagues.”