Bank Sarasin-Alpen, owned by the Basel-based Sarasin Group, has strengthened its Qatar operations by hiring a private banking team headed by Sulaiman Yousif Salhi. He will be supported by Meenal Mahajan and Rasha Badawi in client relationship management roles.

The Qatar operations of Bank Sarasin-Alpen were launched in February 2008. The hires are indicative of the bank’s aspirations to expand its Qatar office as a base to access other GCC markets.

“With the growing business opportunities in Qatar, it was very important that we bring in resources that can channel our operations in the right direction,” comments Rohit Walia, chief executive of Bank Sarasin-Alpen Qatar. “We are confident that Sulaiman Yousif Salhi and the new team will play an important role in helping us further expand our business. They bring with them great experience from the local Qatari market and are extremely familiar with the nuances of the region.”

“The Middle East region is very important for us and as our operations are well established in Dubai, we hope to grow and carve a niche for ourselves in the private banking market of Qatar,” says Fidelis Goetz, head of private banking at Bank Sarasin in Switzerland and chairman of Bank Sarasin-Alpen Qatar.

Sulaiman Yousif Salhi, the new senior executive officer, joins from HSBC in Qatar, where he was the head of HSBC Amanah.          

Client relationship manager Meenal Mahajan moves from ICICI Bank Qatar where her last position was country head & assistant general manager.

Rasha Badawi, also a client relationship manager, was last with Standard Chartered Bank where she was the head of wealth management & Shared distribution. Prior to that, she worked for HSBC Qatar for a decade.

Also this week, Bank Sarasin launched a financial advisory and consultancy services business in India with plans to open offices in Mumbai and Delhi on 1 July.