José Viñals

José Viñals exemplifies The Navigator, a leader defined by steering complex institutions through shifting external currents. Before joining Standard Chartered as Group Chairman in 2016, he served as Financial Counsellor at the IMF and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Spain, roles that trained him to read macro-financial weather systems and translate them into institutional direction. At Standard Chartered, a bank whose footprint spans Asia, Africa and the Middle East, he has chaired the board through Brexit, US-China tensions, Hong Kong volatility and the pandemic, consistently emphasising resilience, governance discipline and sustainable finance. His public engagement on climate transition and emerging market capital flows reflects a chairman who charts course by external conditions rather than internal ambition. Viñals leads less by disruption than by orientation, keeping a geopolitically exposed institution pointed toward viable long-term routes.