Naguib Kheraj, the incoming CEO of JP Morgan Cazenove has said that he turned his back on FD roles because they do not have the final say in driving businesses.

Kheraj told Accountancy Age that he had turned down several FD jobs before deciding on the CEO position at the leading investment bank because the roles had less influence.

'As a chief executive, you are more the driver of the business,' he said. 'I've been approached for a number of FD jobs, but if I'd wanted to stay as an FD, I would have stayed at Barclays. It's one of the finest FD jobs in the world.'

Kheraj recently stepped down from a senior adviser role at Barclays worth a reported £600,000 a month after giving up his job as finance director of the bank in 2006. His career in investment banking began in 1986 at Salomon Brothers in London, where he was a director in investment banking and also served as European CFO. He also held a senior role at Robert Fleming before joining Barclays in 1997.

The job is Kheraj's first major posting after vowing not to return to an FD role 'any time soon' following his time in charge of Barclays' finance function.

A large slice of JP Morgan Cazenove's operations focus on mergers and acquisitions , a market which is currently in a slump, but Kheraj said that the company had other strings to its bow.

'Volumes in the M&A market are down, but JP has a large equity business as well,' he said.' This includes advising on rights issues, which several of the UK's largest banks have done recently in efforts to bolster their balance sheets.

Kheraj, who is not a qualified accountant by trade added: 'I grew up in investment banking, so this is really going back to my roots. The job has got a very nice combination of client work and running the business.'

Overview: bold appointment