HONG KONG (Reuters) - Standard Chartered Plc said operating profit for the third quarter fell 16 per cent, as the Asia-focused bank grappled with rising costs from the restructuring of its South Korean business and an increase in impaired loans.

Operating profit for the July-September quarter fell to US$1.5 billion (S$1.91 billion) from US$1.8 billion in the same period a year ago.

StanChart has said it expects profits to fall in 2014 for a second straight year, as the lender faces a number of challenges including a slowdown in growth in many of its core emerging markets and weak trading activity.

The bank is also under heavy regulatory scrutiny, having warned on Aug. 6 that it faced its second fine in two years from New York's financial regulator for problems in its anti-money laundering controls.