The owners of consumer lending specialist Latitude Financial Services have called in high profile executive Ahmed Fahour to take over the reins of the company following the departure of Sean Morrissey.The company is banking on Fahour's hard-selling style to renew its prospects for an ASX listing, which chairman Mike Tilley revealed had been deferred "given the leadership transition and external market considerations"."The board would continue to explore strategic options, which may include a future listing on the Australian Securities Exchange," Tilley noted in a statement.Latitude has been trying to build investor support for an initial public offering of the business since the middle of last year but regulatory uncertainty in the financial services sector stalled its efforts.Momentum for the IPO, expected to take place earlier this year, was further eroded after Morrissey suffered a health problem and decided to relinquish the top job.Tilley said recruiting a leader of Fahour's stature was an exciting moment for the company."Ahmed is the ideal individual to take the helm of Latitude as we embark on a new chapter and seize the opportunities that exist in a changing financial services landscape," he said."His experiences and proven track record running large scale enterprises perfectly suit our ambitions as a growing challenger in a market in which customers demand better services and solutions."Fahour's high profile and lucrative executive contracts at Australia Post and NAB have often made him the focus of public controversy.He found himself at the centre of a political storm last year after the government-owned Australia Post revealed he received a final payout of $10.8 million when he vacated the CEO role.The magnitude of the payout horrified former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull whose government forced Australia Post's board to have the pay of its future CEOs set by a tribunal."You won't see the likes of it again at Australia Post," Mr Turnbull said in August last year.Fahour is hoping to position Latitude as a disruptor in the local financial services market."Now that Latitude has been successfully established as its own business with a new brand there are many opportunities available for this dynamic platform," he said."Along with regulatory changes, new customer-facing technology offers significant opportunities for Latitude to both directly support its customers and to continue to support its partners, online and in stores."Morrisey led Latitude from 2015 when KKR, Deutsche Bank, and Varde Partners acquired the Australian and New Zealand operations of GE's financial services business.He oversaw the rebranding of the company and separation of Latitude's operating platforms from GE's core systems.He also negotiated several new partnership deals with retailers, most notably with JB HiFi, to distribute Latitude credit cards and other finance products.The Latitude business returned to growth under Morrissey who also made reducing the group's exposure to short term funding programs a strategic focus of his time as CEO.