In June 2015 when fast-talking American banker Bill Winters was handed charge of Standard Chartered, there were questions about the solvency of the London-headquartered lender with a storied past stretching to the 1860s.

Under his predecessor Peter Sands, the bank had gone on what some considered an excessively aggressive lending spree that left it vulnerable to a slowdown in Asia and a global commodities downturn. Its book of soured loans bulging, customers departing in droves, straining under regulatory challenges and under-performing many of its peers in the key markets that it operated in, particularly Asia, it was no easy challenge.