Standard Bank non-executive director and deputy board chairperson Dr Hao Hu has stepped down from the board with immediate effect, the group announced in a notice to shareholders after markets closed on Monday.

Hu was an executive director on the board of Standard Bank Group and Standard Bank South Africa.

"Dr Hu is one of two non-executive directors nominated by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Limited to serve on Standard Bank Group's board of directors," the group said.

ICBC is a 20% shareholder of Standard Bank Group - and can nominate two non- executive directors for appointment to the board of the company. One of the nominees serves as deputy chairperson. "ICBC will nominate a replacement candidate in due course," Standard Bank said.

The notice did not indicate why Hu stepped down, but the boards thanked Hu for his contribution to the group. It was recently announced that he also stepped down from the ICBC, where he was vice governor and executive director. He resigned from the ICBC earlier in February.

Standard Bank's share price, which opened at R158 on Monday, lost as much as 5.06% to close at R151.46, as markets took a knock on the back of coronavirus fears, trading specialist Musa Makoni said in a market update.

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Last week the Constitutional Court set aside a decision by the Competition Appeal Court which ordered the Competition Commission to grant Standard Bank access to its investigative records in a forex collusion case.

Standard Bank has been accused by the Commission of rand/ dollar currency manipulation, along with other banks, in a case dating to 2017. Standard Bank had appealed to the Competition Appeal Court which ruled in its favour, Fin24 reported. The Commission, however, appealed the ruling at the Constitutional Court.

Standard Bank has said the allegations levelled against it are "unsubstantiated".