STANDARD CHARTERED chief executive Peter Sands attempted to reverse the bank’s fading fortunes today by closing its equities business and announcing 4,000 job losses.

The bank said that it was dismantling its stockbroking, equity research and equity listing desks worldwide, with the loss of 200 jobs.

And, in its retail division, the bank said it has cut or announced the cutting of 2,000 jobs in the last three months, and planned to axe a further 2,000 over the coming year.

The bank had announced a plan in October targeting £235 million cuts.

And today it said that the retail job cuts should cut £120m this year, while the closure of the equities busi

ness should result in £60 million savings through 2016.

Bankers in the equities division in Hong Kong arrived at work today to find that they had been locked out, while some in Singapore were escorted from their workplaces.

“We came in this morning and were told the equity business was being shut down,” said one research worker.

Standard Chartered shares shot up 2.6 per cent in Hong Kong today, reflecting expectations that the cuts would boost speculators’ profits.

But greedy analysts warned more action was needed to get back on track.

The cuts come less than two months after rating agency Standard & Poor’s hit the bank with its first ever downgrade following bad loans.

Operating profit for the July-September quarter fell 16 per cent to £880m compared to the same period a year ago.