Standard Chartered Private Bank has appointed David Inglesfield as regional head for the Middle East and North Africa region.

In his new role, Mr Inglesfield is based in Standard Chartered’s regional office in the Dubai International Finance Centre, overseeing 30 relationship managers along with support staff.

Mr Inglesfield was most recently a director for Barclays Wealth Middle East and North Africa, and regional head for Barclays Wealth International. In his 15 years at Barclays, Mr Inglesfield was instrumental in the development of the private client business and was the first representative of Barclays Wealth in the UAE, Standard Chartered said in a statement.

“The development of our private banking business forms an important aspect of our consumer banking business and we are delighted to welcome David on board,” said Chris de Bruin, head of Consumer Banking at Standard Chartered Bank.

Standard Chartered Private Bank announced in May that it is to increase its relationship management headcount by almost a quarter, hiring another 100 RMs globally within a year as part of expansion plans in its key markets in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

The private bank, which currently has 350 relationship managers globally, attributed its recruitment drive to a continuing increase in client demand for its private banking services.

As part of its Asian expansion plans, Standard Chartered Private Bank made two senior appointments in Hong Kong last month. Lawrence Cheung was appointed chief operating officer for North Asia, joining from French bank BNP Paribas, where he had been COO for five years. Meanwhile, Andrew Lau, who was previously chief of staff and alternative chief executive at JP Morgan, joined Standard Chartered Private Bank as regional head of compliance.

WealthBriefing also reported in June that Standard Chartered is taking on a team of relationship managers from RBS Coutts.