Gulf Finance House set to appoint new CEO

Bahrain-based Islamic lender Gulf Finance House (GFH) expects to appoint a new CEO within weeks following the departure of its former boss five months ago, the company said on Tuesday.

Peter Panayiotou resigned as acting CEO of GFH at the end of December 2008, a spokesman for the kingdom’s biggest Islamic investment bank by market value confirmed to Arabian Business.

“GFH is currently engaged in the process of appointing a new CEO and we hope to be making an announcement shortly,” he added in a statement.

In the interim, deputy-CEO’s Mehran Jamsheer and Salah Rahimi were responsible for the day to day management of the bank, he said.

News of Panayiotou’s departure emerged on the same day as the bank announced a net loss of $37.7m in the first quarter due largely to provisions it took on its investment portfolio.

Panayiotou, a British national, joined GFH in May 2003 as chief operating officer and was appointed acting CEO in July 2007.

His name still appeared as acting CEO on the senior management section of the bank’s website until Arabian Business contacted GFH on Tuesday. 

The spokesman described this as an “oversight” and it was removed on shortly afterwards.

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