JP Morgan’s Merlin Dowse has joined IT giant CGI after stepping down from the US lender after a 15-year tenure.  

Dowse announced his departure last month from JP Morgan, where he was executive director and head of global trade product management, overseeing the bank’s trade finance digitalisation efforts.  

At CGI, Dowse has been appointed to a newly created role as senior product manager for trade and supply chain finance, working on the firm’s Trade360 platform, which is used by banks to manage trade finance products and processes.  

He has particular responsibility for digitisation, trade ecosystem partners and APIs, a CGI spokesperson tells GTR.  

He reports to Patrick DeVilbiss, CGI’s head of product for trade and supply chain finance, and is based in Texas.

“We’re excited to welcome Merlin to the CGI Trade360 team. His leadership in trade finance will help us accelerate the modernisation of global trade and drive seamless ecosystem integration for CGI clients,” says Frank Tezzi, vice-president, consulting services, trade and supply chain finance at CGI. 

Dowse is a vocal advocate for digitalising the paper-heavy trade finance sector, and has been a vice-chair of the International Chamber of Commerce Banking Commission since April 2021. 

Prior to his stint at JP Morgan, Dowse held trade process management roles at Rabobank.