Standard Chartered holds ‘Top Out’ ceremony for new UAE headquarters

Bank to move staff to new building in December 2012

UAE – 8 April, 2012 – Standard Chartered today held a ‘Top Out’ ceremony to celebrate completion of construction of its new UAE headquarters in Downtown Dubai, adjacent to Emaar Square. The ceremony was attended by Jonathan Morris, CEO, Standard Chartered UAE and senior managers from the Bank. Construction started on 25th May, 2011 and the Bank will start moving staff into the building during December 2012. To complete the construction in such a short time, an army of 855 people worked more than 1 million man hours to reach the top of the 78 meter-high building. The Bank will occupy eight of the thirteen office levels in the building for an initial period of 15 years. At the ceremony, Jonathan Morris expressed his approval of the progress made so far in the construction of the building: “Today we are celebrating a major milestone which gets us closer to realising our goal of completing a landmark building in the heart of the vibrant city of Dubai. This building is a strategic investment for us and is a clear indication of our long term commitment to our customers and the UAE – which is one of our top five markets globally. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the construction team who have put in relentless effort to meet the construction deadlines.” The Bank has committed USD140 million to this development. Under the lease agreement, Standard Chartered will have full and exclusive naming rights for the building and will occupy in excess of 125,000 sq ft. The lease agreement enables the Bank to accommodate future increases in staff and includes built-in scalability for further expansion. The leased space will have capacity for about 1,250 staff and will include a state-of-the-art trading floor. The office design will showcase the Bank’s brand promise, Here for good, and specifically highlights the Bank’s pledge to support the future growth of the UAE. The Headquarter will be a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building. LEED is an internationally recognised green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies intended to improve performance in metrics such as energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. Standard Chartered’s regional hub will continue to be situated at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), where the Bank operates the biggest trading floor in the region.

Standard Chartered has been operating in the UAE for 53 years and employs 2,300 people across the UAE.