In 2009, as Citibank’s share price plunged to less than a dollar and HSBC’s profits dropped to less than a third of what they’d been in 2007, Standard Chartered Bank posted its seventh successive year of income and profit growth—without any help from emergency government funding. While the financial industry as a whole was facing a crisis of legitimacy, Standard Chartered was raising its standing with key customers and regulators alike, increasing its overall lending by 13%, its mortgage lending by 21%, and its loans to small and medium-sized businesses by 14%.