Standard Chartered (STAN.L) will hire 1,200 relationship managers for small and medium enterprises in the next three years as part of an ambitious plan to double the business, the global head of its SME business said on Monday.

The plan, which will see the number of relationship managers serving SMEs nearly double to 2,500, involves widening the range of services to include providing advise in areas such as managing foreign exchange risks and volatility in commodity prices, global head of SME banking Subroto Som told Reuters in an interview.

 

“We see more SMEs expanding cross-borders or their suppliers or distributors being in some other countries. That ability to bank and do financial business across borders is a key need,” he said.

 

Stanchart saw deposits from SMEs grow 17% in the first half of 2010 while loans to the sector rose by 7%.

 

“We’re basically trying to double the size of the business,” said Steve Bertamini, Stanchart's CEO for global consumer banking, whose business includes SMEs.

 

He said SMEs grew at twice the rate of GDP expansion and Stanchart can enjoy “pretty decent low-teens continued growth rate” by focusing on SMEs and trying to grow faster than the overall market.