The UAE affiliate of the Geneva-based firm has announced a new CEO.

Geneva-based REYL & Cie has appointed one of its senior figures to take the chief executive role at its United Arab Emirates affiliate, after his predecessor moved to Switzerland.

The firm has appointed Nicholas Farrar as CEO of REYL Finance (MEA) Ltd, filling the slot vacated by Pasha Bakhtiar, who became a partner of the private bank in Geneva, as previously announced.

Farrar joined RMEA as one of its founding members in 2015. Prior to that, he worked for more than 25 years in investment banking, management consulting, private equity and fund management in London and Dubai at a variety of organisations including AT Kearney, Standard Bank, Willow Impact Investors and ES Bankers Dubai. He has advised financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and high net worth individuals on cross-border acquisition strategies into emerging markets, including Africa, for over 10 years.

In Bakhtiar’s case, he has more than 20 years’ experience in the fields of wealth management, asset management and private equity. He began his career with Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch in Geneva before moving to Dubai to participate in the launch of LODH’s operations in the UAE where he has spent the last 13 years. In 2010, he was one of the early movers in the impact investing space by founding Willow Impact Investors, a private equity fund focusing on East Africa. Bakhtiar subsequently became the CEO of ES Bankers Dubai Ltd. He joined REYL & Cie in 2015 as co-founder and CEO of RMEA.

REYL Finance (MEA) offers wealth management, corporate advisory and structuring, and asset services in the UAE.