Standard Chartered, one of the most successful growth stories in global banking for a decade, has called a halt to its grand expansion as it seeks to conserve capital amid the worst drop in profits for more than 12 years.

After a period in which it aggressively took business from crisis-hit western rivals, StanChart is now pulling back in its heartland of Asia, according to senior insiders at the bank.

In a sign of the pace of change, StanChart has fallen from eighth place last year in the league tables for project finance in Asia, excluding Japan, to 21st, according to Dealogic. It has also dropped from 16th to 23rd in Asian trade finance, while market share in leveraged finance has tumbled from 5.8 per cent to less than 4 per cent. Analysts estimate that the three areas account for about 15 per cent of group revenues.