StanChart hires former top Barclays lawyer as new General Counsel

By Lawrence White and Olivia Oran

LONDON (Reuters) - Standard Chartered (STAN.L) has hired Barclays' (BARC.L) top regulatory lawyer Chris Allen as its new general counsel, clients and products, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

Allen will join StanChart on Jan. 16 and oversee legal matters across all the company's main business units including corporate and investment banking, commercial banking, private banking and wealth management, one of the sources said.

He will be based in Singapore and report to the bank's most senior lawyer, general counsel David Fein, the same source said.

Barclays and Standard Chartered declined to comment.

Allen is serving out a notice period at Barclays, where he is the bank's Group regulatory counsel, and will leave the bank soon, another of the sources said.

Standard Chartered faces a number of legal issues, most notably in the U.S. where it remains under supervision over lapses in controls over transactions involving Iran and other countries.

The bank has also referred to U.S. authorities alleged impropriety at an Indonesian power plant company that the bank's private equity arm invested in.

Allen's hire comes amid broader job cuts at Standard Chartered as Chief Executive Bill Winters attempts to cut costs. Reuters reported on Nov.29 the lender would slash around 10 percent of staff in its investment banking unit.

Allen joined Barclays in 2004 from law firm Baker & McKenzie, and in his current role at the lender oversees its regulatory affairs.

(Reporting By Lawrence White and Olivia Oran; Editing by Susan Fenton and Susan Thomas)