By Steve Slater
LONDON (Reuters) - Standard Chartered's (L:STAN) board will discuss succession planning at a meeting in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, people familiar with the matter said.
The meeting is a regularly scheduled meeting, the bank said, declining to discuss further details, or the agenda.
It was inevitable issues around the succession of Chief Executive Peter Sands would come up, two people familiar with the matter said.
Pressure has built on Sands in recent weeks after a string of problems. Three of the bank's top 30 investors told Reuters in December that Sands should be replaced, probably this year, and scrutiny of his position has intensified this week.
The former McKinsey consultant steered Standard Chartered through the financial crisis, helping it to 10 years of record earnings and growth, but is now in danger of being ousted after two bad years. He has been CEO for eight years.
Shareholders said there have been strategic, governance and operational mistakes, and Sands was too slow to address problems and had not gone far enough in cutting costs.
The bank's shares are down 35 percent since the start of 2013 and there are concerns it faces a rise in bad loans, especially on loans to commodities companies.
The shares were down 1.7 percent at 890 pence by 1207 GMT, and have lost 6 percent this week.
Headhunting firm Egon Zehnder is among the firms assessing potential CEOs, sources have said.
Standard Chartered has also faced a string of legal issues in the United States, including having to pay $667 million over sanctions violations involving Iran and other countries.
The bank said this week's meeting, which began on Wednesday, had long been scheduled for Washington, D.C.
It holds most of its board meetings in London, but holds a couple each year overseas, which often incorporate bigger strategic reviews.
In 2013, it held nine board meetings, including one in Hong Kong and one in Ghana. In 2012, its nine board meetings included trips to Shanghai, New York and Dubai.