The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced the appointment of Philip Hampton as chairman following seven non-executives leaving the bank.
Investment & Corporate Banking
Clyde & Co has appointed partner David McElveney to head the firm’s Abu Dhabi construction and projects practice.
The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) authority has appointed Jon Morton as director for financial development. Morton has joined the QFC authority from Henley Business School in the UK, formerly Henley Management College, which merged with the University of Reading in August.
Morgan Stanley has further strengthened its Saudi Arabia team by appointing Habib Achkar, managing director, as chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley Saudi Arabia. Achkar will oversee the continued expansion of MSSA and will relocate to Riyadh.
Investec Investment Bank and Securities, the specialist investment bank, has announced two appointments as the bank continues to build on its position as a leading mid-market specialist. Gareth Taylor has joined as a director in the corporate finance division to lead Investec’s coverage of private equity clients and Matthew Wesley has joined the expanding debt advisory team as an associate director.
French bank splits role between former corporate finance head and deputy risk officer as Thierry Aulagnon retires.
Despite a slow start to 2015, hopes are high for new names to enter the market this year.
Strong trade winds are blowing throughout Sub Saharan Africa. Pushing companies forward are rising oil and commodity prices, but throwing the continent’s businesses off course is a deterioration of trust after a spate of defaults and the end of cheap credit globally.
World Bank president Jim Yong Kim sets out a radical agenda for his second term that will move it away from direct funding towards de-risking projects in Africa to make them more attractive to private capital.
Nigeria made a barn-storming return to the US dollar bond market when it defied expectations and shaky fundamentals to print below 8% yield on a book that almost hit US$8bn.
Islamic finance volumes fell off a cliff last year, but bankers are predicting a substantial increase in activity as more sovereigns from major Islamic finance hubs are turning to the international markets.