Morris succeeds Jeremy Parrish, who has been in the UAE for the past five years, initially as CEO for its Abu Dhabi and Al Ain operations, and more recently as UAE chief executive. Parrish remains with Standard Chartered, but moves to Geneva to head up the bank’s Swiss operations, again in the role of CEO. Both appointments took effect on the first of September.
Morris’s successor as head of Standard Chartered’s Bahrain operation has yet to be named, but a company spokesman stressed that it will be announced in due course. “Standard Chartered remains committed to Bahrain, and has been operating in the kingdom for over 92 years,” he added.
Standard Chartered is headquartered in London but gets more than 90% of its income and profits from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It has had a presence in the UAE for more than 53 years, and regards the country as one of its most important markets, according to V. Shankar, group executive director.
Prior to heading up Standard Chartered’s UAE operation, Morris worked across Standard Chartered’s Asia, Africa and Middle East regions, including stints which involved looking after corporate banking clients in the UAE and Oman.