Standard Chartered PLC - M&A Activity 2007

STANDARD CHARTERED PLC DISPOSAL OF INDIAN ASSET MANAGEMENT BUSINESS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Standard Chartered PLC (‘Standard Chartered’) announces that its subsidiary company, Standard Chartered Bank, has today disposed of its entire stake in Standard Chartered Trustee Company Private Limited and Standard Chartered Asset Management Company Private Limited to Swiss Finance Corporation (Mauritius) Limited, a subsidiary of UBS AG for a total cash consideration of approximately USD120 million.

Standard Chartered Asset Management Company Private Limited and Standard Chartered Trustee Company Private Limited are respectively the Investment Manager and the Trustee of Standard Chartered Mutual Fund, a trust set up under the provisions of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. Together the companies to be sold represent the mutual fund manufacturing business of Standard Chartered in India. The transaction does not include Standard Chartered’s mutual fund distribution business which Standard Chartered will continue to pursue. Assets under management, which include debt and equity funds, stood at USD3.1 billion as at 25 January 2007.

This transaction is conditional upon certain regulatory approvals, and is expected to complete in the second half of 2007.

India is one of Standard Chartered’s key markets and the Bank will continue to invest in and grow its core business there.

For further information, contact:

Stephen Atkinson, Head of Investor Relations

Tel: +44 20 7280 7245

[email protected]

Ruth Naderer, Head of Investor Relations, Asia Pacific

Tel : +852 2820 3075

[email protected]

Sean Farrell, Head of Media Relations

Tel: +44 20 7280 7163

[email protected]