Hanoi / London —Standard Chartered, the UK-headquartered multinational bank with a strong focus on Asian markets and four branches in Vietnam, is now at the center of a massive legal battle linked to one of the world’s largest financial scandals.

The bank is facing a $2.7 billion compensation claim filed by asset liquidators for Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB. The claim alleges that between 2009 and 2013, Standard Chartered facilitated more than 100 internal fund transfers without adequate oversight, enabling the concealment of embezzled funds. These transactions reportedly included payments to personal accounts of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, as well as purchases of luxury jewelry and watches for his family.

This is not the first time Standard Chartered has faced accusations of weak internal controls. In 2016, Singapore fined the bank SGD 5.2 million for breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, citing “serious deficiencies” in its customer and transaction monitoring systems. Earlier, in 2019, Standard Chartered agreed to pay $1.1 billion in fines to US and UK authorities for AML compliance failures.

In the 1MDB case, the lawsuit claims the bank failed to conduct proper due diligence on over 100 internal transfers between accounts within its system, transactions that allegedly played a crucial role in concealing illicit funds.

This legal action is part of a broader global effort to hold financial institutions accountable and recover stolen funds for Malaysia’s state coffers. Standard Chartered has denied all allegations, arguing that the plaintiffs are not legitimate legal entities but “shell companies” operating under false pretenses. The bank stated that it closed the relevant accounts in early 2013 and has “fully cooperated with authorities” since the 1MDB scandal came to light.

The case adds to mounting legal pressure on Standard Chartered, which has faced claims totaling more than $4 billion in legal penalties and settlements since the beginning of 2025.

The unfolding situation raises critical questions about the bank’s role and responsibility in safeguarding the integrity of international financial flows. If proven true, the allegations suggest that Standard Chartered overlooked clear red flags, allowing illicit funds to move through its system for years. Beyond reputational damage, the case could spark deeper concerns over the bank’s governance and risk management practices.

Despite the bank’s assertions that it has significantly strengthened its internal controls since past scandals, regulators and stakeholders will likely scrutinize its actions closely. Even in the absence of intentional wrongdoing, failure to detect and prevent suspicious transactions may still be viewed as serious negligence under international banking standards.

Source: Financial Times

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The deal will strengthen Zodia Markets’ over-the-counter business while allowing Elwood to conentrate on its software-as-a-service activities.

Zodia Markets, a cryptocurrency-focused trading firm backed by the venture arm of Standard Chartered, said it is buying the over-the-counter trading division of Elwood Technologies, confirming media reports the unit was on the block and sale talks were in process.

After offloading the business, Elwood, which was championed by crypto-friendly billionaire Alan Howard, will focus on its trading technology software-as-a-service (SaaS) products and services, the company said on Monday.

Confidence is running high in the institutional crypto space, with regulated bank-backed projects and qualified custodians building out a base of trading infrastructure to meet the demands of traditional capital markets.

Zodia Markets’ OTC business now handles trading volumes of as much as $60 million a day, according to CEO Usman Ahmad. He did not share details of how much customer volume is likely to come Zodia’s way from the deal, but said via email that the firm expects to “increase daily volumes significantly.” He also declined to share financial terms of the deal.

Standard Chartered, which was reported recently to be entering the crypto spot trading space, is a backer (through the SC Ventures business) of both Zodia Markets and its sister operation, Zodia Custody.

Usman said the deal would not overlap with Standard Chartered’s crypto trading aspirations. “This transaction is an enabler for Zodia Markets’ growth and doesn’t overlap with what Standard Chartered may or may not do directly in trading spot crypto,” he said.

Crypto markets, coming out of a long bear market, remain choppy. Elwood CEO Chris Lawn said the decision to sell the OTC business was not about a bull or bear market, but instead an illustration of how the digital assets industry is maturing, with new entrants demanding institutional-grade SaaS solutions.

“Increased competition and M&A will force companies to ask tough questions as to who and what they really are,” Lawn said in an email. “For us, the answer is we are a technology company, hence the strategic decision to focus all of our efforts on this part of our business and to sell the OTC business.”

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Source: Vietnam Insider

SC Ventures and SBI Holdings’ Digital Asset Joint Venture investment company will be established in UAE and focus on firms in market infrastructure, risk and compliance, DeFi and tokenization

Standard Chartered’s (STAN) venture arm is teaming up with Japanese financial services firm SBI Holdings to form an investment company with $100 million backing to target crypto startups.

SC Ventures and SBI Holdings’ Digital Asset Joint Venture investment company will be established in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and focus on firms in market infrastructure, risk and compliance, decentralized finance (DeFi) and tokenization, according to a Thursday email.

Standard Chartered has pivoted its crypto activities toward the UAE in recent months, choosing Dubai as the jurisdiction in which to start safeguarding digital assets for institutional clients in the first quarter of 2024. The region’s mature regulatory structure relative to other jurisdictions is one of the major factors attracting firms to establish operations there, the company has said.

Zodia Markets, a digital asset marketplace majority owned by Standard Chartered and also backed by SBI Holdings, received in-principle approval to act as a crypto broker-dealer in Abu Dhabi in September.

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Source: Vietnam Insider

Zodia Custody will use the funds to increase its token coverage and enhance its settlement product, Interchange.

Cryptocurrency storage provider Zodia Custody has raised $36 million in funding from Japanese financial services firm SBI Holdings and SC Ventures, the venture arm of Zodia’s parent company Standard Chartered.

Zodia Custody, which provides digital asset custody services to institutional clients, will use the funding to increase its token coverage and enhance its settlement product, Interchange, which protects clients’ assets that are traded on exchanges, it said in an emailed statement.

The funding round demonstrates the continuing appetite for custodians providing crypto storage services that fit the bill for financial institutions. Copper, for example, earlier this month partnered with exchange OKX to allow institutional clients to keep their assets safeguarded while delegating them to trade on OKX’s platform.

“The future direction of the digital asset ecosystem is clear,” CEO Julian Sawyer said. “As investors demand greater assurance and rigor, compliance is crucial to the future evolution of our sector.”
The London-based firm is majority-owned by Standard Chartered, with American financial services company Northern Trust owning a minority stake.

Zodia Custody in February formed a joint venture with SBI Holdings to set up a crypto asset custodian in Japan.

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Source: Vietnam Insider