Standard Chartered has streamlined its management of European and UK operations by naming longtime employee Margaret Harwood-Jones as the inaugural CEO for Europe and the UK.
Beginning her new role on 1 September 2026, Harwood-Jones has been with the UK bank since 2013, when she became managing director of transaction banking. Three years later, she was elevated to global head of financing and securities services, a position she has maintained since then.
Harwood-Jones, currently the chair of Standard Chartered's Luxembourg division, has leadership expertise from her former roles at HSBC, Cogent, and BNP Paribas, where she advanced to lead client segments, asset managers, and alternative investments.
In a simultaneous action to enhance its regional dominance, Standard Chartered has appointed Jörg Hessenmüller as CEO of Standard Chartered Bank AG (SCB AG), the bank's entity in continental Europe.
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Since July 2025, Hessenmüller has held the position of chief technology and operations officer for Europe and SCB AG, after joining Standard Chartered as SCB AG's chief operations officer from Commerzbank in May 2024.
Hessenmüller takes over from Nicolo Salsano, who has been the CEO of SCB AG since October 2023 and the CEO of Europe since August 2024. It is uncertain if Salsano will stay at Standard Chartered; FinTech Futures has reached out to the bank for clarification on this issue.
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These regional appointments come after a series of senior leadership additions by Standard Chartered in recent months. In March, the bank named Naveen Mallela as the global head of payments and Ole Matthiessen as the global head of transaction services and digital assets. Two months later, Shebani Baweja was appointed group chief data officer, Manus Costello was named group chief financial officer, and Tanuj Kapilashrami assumed the position of group chief operating officer.
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Standard Chartered recently consolidated its technology and operations leadership by elevating Guillermo Veiga to group chief information and operations officer.