J P Morgan, a leading international financial services firm, has announced the appointment of Hussein Hassan as global head of its Islamic Finance practice.

Hassan will lead the firm's effort to further build out its Islamic offering across different lines of business and regions. He will work closely with J P Morgan's existing Islamic finance professionals, broaden the team as required and ensure J P Morgan's product offering is best-in-class across the Corporate & Investment Banking and Wealth Management.

Sjoerd Leenart, senior country officer for Mena, said: “As we have observed a significant increase in the demand for Shari’a compliant banking products, we have decided to invest in high-caliber people, systems and technology.”

“Hussein is widely acknowledged as one of the most experienced and prominent Islamic banking experts and I am confident his knowledge will help us to serve clients better across the globe.”

Hassan's initial focus will include clients from Saudi Arabia, where the firm is expanding rapidly and offers the full range of wholesale banking products, as well as other geographies, including Malaysia.

Steve Clayton, senior country officer for Malaysia said: “Malaysia continues to solidify its position as an important hub for Islamic finance. Hussein will ensure that J P Morgan begins to intensify our focus within the market and in doing so meeting the needs of our clients in terms of expert advice and innovative and effective Shari’a compliant products.”

Hassan joins from UBS where he was most recently Global Head of Islamic Structuring and head of MENA structuring.

He worked previously at Deutsche Bank where he contributed to the build out and then lead its Islamic finance capabilities.

He will be based in Dubai and report to Abdulaziz Al Helaissi, head of J P Morgan’s Global Corporate Banking in Mena and senior country officer for Saudi Arabia. – TradeArabia News Service