Who hired in the Middle East in February?

After an active January, new hires outside of the executive suite were few and far between February. However, there were signs of life in the long-quiet investment banking recruitment sector.

Ahli Bank has named Salah Murad as its new chief executive. He was previously CEO for the bank’s Qatar operations.

Arqaam Capital has hired Wafic Nsouli as its new head of institutional equity sales. He was previously head of MENA equities at Credit Suisse.

Barclays has named Mohamed Sherif as its new finance director for its Egypt operation.

Ernst & Young has named Andrea Longhi as its new head of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Advisory Healthcare. He was previously director of commercial policy at the department of health in the UK.

HSBC Bank Oman has made two new appointments for its Premier retail banking brand. Richard Barker has been named head of premier banking and wealth management, while Mohammed Said al Habsi has taken the role as wealth premier relationship manager.

J.P. Morgan has promoted Jonathan Conner to head of its Middle East private banking team. It has also named Ramsey Jallad, who previously worked in its Family Office team, as an executive director and senior banker for the team.

LGT Group has officially opened its first office in the Middle East located in the Dubai International Financial Centre. It will be managed by Mannan Adenwalla.

NCB, the Saudi Arabia bank, has named Bleihid Al Bleihid as senior executive vice president for human resources.

Noor Islamic Bank has named Narenda Swarup as its new chief risk officer. He is responsible for credit, operational and market risk.

The QFC Authority has named Yousef Al-Jaida as chief strategic development officer.

Standard Chartered has named Tom Emmet as its new head of mergers and acquisitions in the Middle East and North Africa. He joined from Royal Bank of Scotland where he was head of corporate finance and equity capital markets for MENA.

Warba Bank, the Kuwaiti institution, has named Haitham AbdulAziz Husain Al- Terkait as its new chief technology officer. He previously worked at Kuwait Finance House.