The team will be based in Dubai and led by Wissam Khoury, a former Reuters executive, reporting to Roy Froud, Head of Sales for Misys Middle East and Africa.

Misys is already a major supplier of core banking and comprehensive Islamic banking solutions in the Middle East, with 85 staff serving more than 100 major banking customers. The addition of the Treasury and Capital Markets portfolio will capitalise on the growth in the region's financial markets and complete Misys' offer to financial institutions in the region.

The development of Treasury & Capital Markets capability in the Middle East is a core part of the Misys' strategic focus on accelerating growth in rapidly expanding markets. The region is one of the world's fastest growing financial markets with compound annual growth rates of 22% in bank loans and 19% in total assets expected over the next 5 years. Other issues such as an increasingly young population, changes in regional monetary policies, economic growth and an increased level of sophistication throughout the banking sector are also driving financial institutions to seek more advanced investment vehicles and software solutions.

Wissam Khoury, the newly appointed Regional Manager for the Treasury & Capital Markets business, comments: "There is increasing sophistication in financial markets globally, high competition between financial institutions and lower margins in plain vanilla financial instruments. These issues are now impacting the Middle East banking sector. There is also a regional focus on compliance with international standards and regulations, plus the continued expansion of Islamic Banking and liquidity surplus, and my focus will be on supporting customers' growth and enabling financial institutions to compete on an international scale."

Khoury will be charged with developing the new operation and will be responsible for designing bespoke solutions for financial institutions servicing a range of financial instruments and treasury products. The localised offerings will be based on Misys Treasury and Capital Markets' leading software solutions; Misys Summit FT, Misys Opics Plus and Misys Loan IQ.

"Over the coming months, we are committed to developing an Islamic treasury solution that will revolutionise the way banks are currently handling their Islamic banking requirements to provide greater flexibility to their business," Khoury adds. "We will also offer financial institutions a greater capacity to create advanced and complex financial products along with delivering complete and exceptional management of risk."

Khoury joins Misys after spending two years as Managing Director at MEITS - an IT consulting firm he founded in 2005. During this time he served many leading financial institutions in the Gulf region as a partner for financial software companies such as SunGard, Advanced Financial Solutions and Sharesoft Solutions. Prior to this, Khoury spent eight years with Reuters Ltd, where he held the position of Solutions Practice Manager for Middle East and Africa.