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Standard Chartered’s chief financial officer Diego De Giorgi, who had been seen as in contention to succeed chief executive Bill Winters at the bank, has resigned to work at US private capital group Apollo Global Management.
StanChart on Tuesday said De Giorgi would step down immediately and be replaced by deputy chief financial officer Peter Burrill while the bank searched for a successor.
De Giorgi served as chief financial officer of StanChart for just over two years. He regularly led the group’s results press conferences in place of Winters and was seen by many as a potential candidate to replace the UK’s longest-serving bank chief executive. Winters has led StanChart since 2015.
The bank’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell as much as 7 per cent on Tuesday after the announcement.
Apollo said De Giorgi would join the firm as a partner and head of Europe, Middle East and Africa, where it has been expanding its dealmaking, lending and wealth management services.
The private capital giant said its assets under management hit $938bn in the fourth quarter of last year, of which $155bn came from the Emea region.
“This is an especially meaningful time for me to be a part of [Apollo’s] growth journey as European companies, economies and investors demand the types of long-term solutions Apollo brings to bear,” said De Giorgi in a statement.
The Italian banker replaces Rob Seminara, who will take on a new global role at Apollo after a transition period.
“We have known Diego for many years and believe he will be a terrific steward of business in this next phase, bringing significant industry experience and a European perspective,” said Apollo president Jim Zelter.
De Giorgi worked as global head of investment banking at Bank of America from 2015 to 2019 before joining StanChart, where he was instrumental in the bank’s push into digital assets. It was the first major global bank to offer cryptocurrency trading to institutional clients.
StanChart, which is based in the UK but derives much of its business from Asia, has been lifted by a tide of wealth management inflows, particularly from Chinese and Indian clients.
De Giorgi’s departure comes as other investment banking dealmakers leave for the burgeoning private capital industry. Tyler Dickson, former head of investment banking at Citi, left in 2024 for a role at Blackstone.