America’s biggest bank JPMorgan has appointed Sailepu Montet as the Country Manager for Kenya.

The firm which has decided not to offer asset and wealth management services to Kenya’s high-net-worth individuals was recently authorised by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to establish a representative office in Kenya.

“The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announces the granting of authority to JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. of the United States of America (USA) to establish a Representative Office in Kenya by the name of JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Representative Office Kenya,” CBK had announced.

“Under the Banking Act, Representative Offices of foreign banks in Kenya serve as marketing and liaison offices for their parent banks and affiliates and are not permitted to undertake banking business. The JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Representative Office Kenya will operate in line with this requirement”.

In his new capacity, Montet, who was previously the Deputy Director of Financial Markets and Head of Reserves Management at the CBK will focus on commercial and investment banking, treasury services, and limited wealth management.

JPMorgan’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon visited Nigeria as part of the bank’s plans to explore business opportunities in Kenya and the wider Africa region. He also landed in Kenya during the week and is expected to meet with central bank officials and other major industry stakeholders in addition to the US ambassador.

“Capital goes to where it’s taken care of, you know, where people think they can make some money and have a return on capital in the long run. And very often, the countries, I’m not talking about Nigeria, you know if they have very inconsistent policies, companies don’t want to go there. And the real capital is going to come from companies,” he said.