Standard Chartered to stop advising on Australian mining project

Standard Chartered's chairman has said that the bank will stop work as financial adviser on a vast coal mine in Australia until it can assess claims that the project will harm the environment and threaten the Great Barrier Reef.

Sir John Peace refused to give details of the bank's involvement in the A$16bn project when asked about it by Greenpeace activists at the bank's annual meeting in London on Wednesday.

But he said: "We will go no further with this until we are fully satisfied with the environmental impact of this project." He added that the bank was in "active dialogue" with the Australian government about the issue.

Sebastian Bock, one of the Greenpeace campaigners who asked Sir John about the project at the meeting, said: "The bank's acknowledgment of the problem is the first step in the right direction but they dodged the questions. Standard Chartered must live up to its own sustainability policies and follow other global banks that are distancing themselves from this destructive mega coal mine."

The Australian state of Queensland last year approved construction of one of the world's biggest coal mines, dismissing conservationists' fears that the development of an associated port risks damaging the Great Barrier Reef.

The Carmichael Coal Mine and Rail Project is proposed by Adani Group, an Indian conglomerate with interests spanning mining, energy and logistics. The mine would produce 60m tonnes of thermal coal annually for export to India and generate billions of dollars in revenue to a state that is struggling to cut its A$80bn debts.

StanChart says it is an adviser to Adani on the Carmichael project. But it has denied giving Adani a $680m loan to fund the project, as an executive of the Indian group told a Queensland court that it had done in April.

Sir John, who plans to step down next year as part of a boardroom shake-up announced in February, said he was "conscious of our disappointing performance" after the bank's profits and share price fell sharply last year.

He praised the "immense contribution" of Peter Sands, who is to be replaced as chief executive by Bill Winters on June 10 after almost nine years in charge. But Mr Sands was criticised by some small shareholders, one of whom claimed he gave a "vacuous speech".

The bank won the support of more than 90 per cent of those shareholders who voted on all motions proposed at the meeting, including approval of its remuneration report.

Sir John said that an expected increase in the British government's bank levy was a key issue to be considered as it continued to review whether the bank that has most of its operations in Asia, the Middle East and Africa should remain based in the UK.

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