Standard Chartered has announced the resignation of its chief financial officer, Diego De Giorgi, who is leaving the bank to take up a senior role at US private capital giant Apollo Global Management.
The lender said De Giorgi stepped down with immediate effect and will be temporarily replaced by deputy chief financial officer Peter Burrill while a formal search for a new finance chief is conducted.
De Giorgi, who spent just over two years in the role, had been widely viewed as a potential successor to Standard Chartered’s long-serving chief executive Bill Winters. During his tenure, he played a prominent role in the bank’s financial strategy and frequently led investor briefings and earnings presentations.
Following the announcement, Standard Chartered’s Hong Kong-listed shares dropped sharply in early trading, reflecting investor concern over the sudden leadership change.
Apollo confirmed that De Giorgi will join the firm as a partner and assume responsibility for its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operations, a region where the private capital group has been expanding its lending, investment and wealth management activities. Apollo said its assets under management approached $1 trillion at the end of last year, with a significant portion sourced from the EMEA region.
In a statement, De Giorgi said the move comes at a time of growing demand for long-term capital solutions across Europe and emerging markets.
The Italian banker previously held senior investment banking roles at Bank of America before joining Standard Chartered, where he was also involved in the bank’s expansion into digital assets and institutional cryptocurrency services.
