StandChart Bank hedges hedging questions

Standard Chartered Bank launched a new product at a high profile press conference on Tuesday but journalists were barred, prior to entering, from asking questions about the controversial oil hedging agreements the bank entered into with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) during the event.

Furthermore, the moderator at the launch set out the ‘ground rules’ for reporters prior to the question period, saying questions should be confined to the product launch. A senior Standard Chartered Bank officer who participated in launching the new Visa Platinum credit card was asked by the Sunday Times FT if instructions had been given by him or the Bank’s CEO Clive Haswell prior to the press conference that reporters were to back off from the hedging issue, he replied that he was unaware of anything of that nature.