Standard Chartered hires HSBC's Katerji for senior MENA job:Sources

DUBAI: Standard Chartered Plc has hired senior HSBC banker Haithem Katerji to head up its Middle East and North Africa financial institutions group, two sources familiar with the matter said.

In his new role, Katerji will be reporting to the bank's global head of client coverage in Singapore, one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Katerji has been involved in several regional high-profile deals at HSBC.

A Standard Chartered spokesman in Dubai declined comment. London-headquartered Standard Chartered, which makes more than 80 percent of its earnings in Asia and other emerging markets, has a large presence in the Middle East and has been keen on boosting its investment banking operations in the region.

Last year, the bank hired Deutsche Bank's mergers and acquisitions head, Apoorva Shah, to its own M&A team.

International banks had flocked to the MENA region in recent years, lured by the oil-rich region's growth prospects and the lucrative fees available, from taking companies public to advising on sovereign fund deals.

But investment banking activity hit a rough patch in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The amount of fee income raised by investment banks from mergers and acquisitions was $165.1 million in the first three quarters of 2011, down nearly 41 percent from the same period last year, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Source: EconomicTimes