Standard Chartered has finally walked away from its $7.2bn (£3.7bn) off-balance-sheet investment fund just one week after renewing its offer to bail out the vehicle, blaming further falls in asset values and "the confines of receivership".

The UK-listed bank's structured investment vehicle (SIV) was pushed into administration on February 11, while StanChart was in the middle of arranging to provide the support for Whistlejacket it had pledged just weeks before.