South Africa's Standard Bank has appointed Veronica O'Brien and Steve Noon to expand distribution of offshore products and services to IFAs in Asia and the Middle East. Based in Dubai, Ms O'Brien will focus on further developing intermediary business in the Middle East. She joins from the Dubai branch of Friends Provident International, which she set up and managed. Prior to that, she worked with Scottish Provident International in Dubai. Based in the Isle of Man, Mr Noon will take responsibility for growing business with IFAs in Asia. He joins from Derbyshire Offshore in the Isle of Man, where he drove strategy to expand the firm's profile in intermediary and corporate markets. Nigel Watson, director of Intermediary Distribution for Standard Bank Isle of Man, said: "Standard Bank is continuing to focus on strengthening its capabilities in delivering its services to intermediaries and IFAs in the world's fastest growing markets."