Will Ross, HSBC’s head of structured capital markets Asia-Pacific, is to become its co-head of Islamic finance global markets. The position is a new role created by HSBC to cement its position in the growing Islamic finance business.
Priorities for Ross and his team will be to drive sukuk issuance, to develop new products and to better integrate HSBC’s Islamic finance business into the firm’s global markets line. Ross is known as an expert in structuring and has been at the forefront of some of HSBC’s more innovative deals in Asia, including the surprise $1 billion covered bond for Korea’s Kookmin Bank last June.
Ross will focus on the liability side of the Islamic finance markets, a source at the bank told Euromoney, while his as-yet unnamed co-head will focus on the asset side.
Ross will retain oversight of his current team and remain based in Hong Kong. He will now report to Mukhtar Hussain, chief executive of the Islamic finance unit HSBC Amanah, in addition to his current reporting line to Stephen Williams, head of global capital markets, Asia-Pacific.
HSBC Amanah was named best international Islamic bankin Euromoney’s Islamic finance awards this February.