FT-Alphaville drew my attention to Standard Chartered’s recent earnings report (as the post is short, I will quote in full):

In the first quarter:

By the third quarter…

Which helps explain why impairments almost doubled at Standard Chartered in Q3 compared to a year ago. Also of note in terms of EM corporate stress… StanChart’s loan book is actually shrinking. It fell under $300bn in the quarter.

StanChart’s profitability is 3/4 derived from Asia. Are the sinking loan book and the tighter underwriting criteria (timing!) a sign that the party is over in Asia?

I think so. Watch that space!