Standard Chartered leaders calling it quits

British bank Standard Chartered announced Thursday that the group's chief executive officer and chairman would step down from their roles at the beleaguered bank in June 2015 and the year 2016 respectively.

CEO Peter Sands will be replaced by former JPMorgan banker Bill Winters and will join the group on May 1, 2015, the bank said in a statement.

Outgoing chairman John Peace said of Winters: "Bill is a globally respected banker and has the right experience and skills to drive the group's new phase of growth."

Standard Chartered also noted Jaspal Bindra, the group's executive director, would step down from the board of directors on April 30 this year. As well, the three longest serving independent non-executive directors will also leave the board this year.

The bank said it intents to reduce the Board size to 14 directors in due course.

Sands and Peace have been under the mounting pressure of shareholders since the bank's profit dropped in 2013, following a decade of continuous profit growth. Its 2014 profit results, to be announced March 4, are expected to have fallen for a second year.

In early January, the bank announced the closure of several of its branches, institutional cash equities, equity research, and equity capital market activity, as the bank continues to exit non-core and under-performing businesses. Endit