The bank is targeting the Middle East's growth potential.

Standard Chartered Private Bank, part of Standard Chartered, has appointed Yahya Ismail in the newly-formed role of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market head. His hire is part of the bank's expansion plan for the frontline private banking team in the United Arab Emirates, it said yesterday. Several other appointments have also been made.

The UK-listed bank said the development is part of a strategy to invest $1.5 billion in its affluent business over the next five years.

“The Middle East is growing at an extraordinary pace, with the UAE in particular experiencing rapid growth in wealth creation amongst high net worth and ultra-HNW individuals who increasingly seek bespoke, cross-border financial solutions for wealth preservation, intergenerational transfers and sustainable growth,” Vinay Gandhi, global head of South Asian Community and regional head of EMEA, Standard Chartered Global Private Bank, said.

Jurisdictions such as the UAE are benefiting, to some extent, from an exodus of wealthy individuals once based in the UK, including resident non-domiciles (non-doms) due to tax changes enacted by the UK’s Labour government. It is estimated that tens of billions in pounds of revenue could be lost to the UK. The Gulf region is an important hub for expats from around the world, including non-resident Indians (NRIs), and others. (See a related guest article analysis here of jurisdictions, including the UAE.)

UAE appointments
Yahya Ismail, who is joining as managing director, market head, Europe, Middle East and Africa, has more than 25 years of banking experience across corporate and private banking. He has spent the last 20 years in private wealth management at Julius Baer and ABN AMRO.

Laura Haddad is joining as senior client partner, lead, GCC UHNW. She brings more than two decades’ experience in wealth management for ultra-HNW clients and families, working with banks including Julius Baer, Credit Agricole, Citibank, Emirates NBD, and the Royal Bank of Canada.

Samia Shahnawaz is joining as executive director, relationship manager, private banking. She has more than 20 years of banking experience across private and institutional banking, working with banks including Julius Baer, Bank of Singapore, Barclays and Citibank.

Ramla Mansukhani and Lakshmi Menon are rejoining as relationship manager, private banking and client service manager, private banking, respectively. Between them, they bring close to 20 years of diverse banking experience across international banks.

By the end of 2024, Standard Chartered’s private bank expanded its UAE-based frontline banking team by 20 per cent.