South African-based Standard Bank today said it would halve capital allocated to its non-African business as global regulatory changes make some business lines uneconomical. The move will reignite the conversation about whether uncertainty over the regulatory climate will hurt major financial centres such as London, where most of the bank's non-core business is based.

The bank said today that it would cut expenditure and intended to halve the amount of capital utilised in operations outside of Africa from $3bn to approximately $1.5bn. The majority of non-African business, which posted earnings of $44m in the first half of this year, is run from London.