Standard Chartered says deputy CEO Rees to step down

(Reuters) - Standard Chartered Plc < 2888.HK> said Deputy Chief Executive Mike Rees would step down from his role on April 30 and leave by year-end, the latest veteran to exit the emerging markets-focused bank.

The bank will not seek a replacement as the role will no longer exist, a spokesman said on Thursday.

Since taking over in June, Chief Executive Bill Winters has cut jobs and shut units globally as he seeks to restore the fortunes of the bank.

Rees, who has worked at the bank for 26 years, was the most senior survivor of the bank's previous management regime.

Winters has also taken more direct responsibility for the major units run by Rees, who was regularly the bank's top earner for running its investment banking unit.

Rees, 59, will remain subject to a malus clause, whereby a major portion of his salary could be reduced depending on the company's performance, StanChart said.

The company's shares, which had declined 38.5 percent in 2015, closed down 1.9 percent at 505.8 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday.

(Reporting By Mamidipudi Soumithri in Bengaluru and Sinead Cruise in London; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Sriraj Kalluvila)