JPMorgan Private Bank has taken advantage of its US parent’s recent purchase of stricken US rivalBear Stearns to appoint a senior Bear Stearns manager to its private banking team in London.

The bank said that Darren McDermott will join its UK domestic private banking team, which is led by Richard Madeley.

In his new role, Mr McDermott will focus on advising clients and developing new business in Ireland.

“This appointment emphasizes JPMorgan’s commitment to expanding its private banking business in Ireland and the superior service we offer our ultra-high-net-worth clients around the world,” saidOlivier de Givenchy, head of JPMorgan Private Bank in the UK.

Prior to joining JPMorgan, Mr McDermott was an associate director at Bear Stearns Private Client Services Group in London, where he worked with high net worth families, endowments and trusts on asset allocation and investment implementation.

Before that, he was an associate in private banking at Credit Suisse and an associate in private wealth management at Merrill Lynch.