Europe Arab Bank has appointed Ziyad Akrouk as its new chief executive.

Akrouk joins the European subsidiary of Arab Bank from Citibank in Kuwait, where he was latterly chief executive and country officer, with responsibility for Citi's corporate, investment and private banking business lines.

Akrouk has held a number of senior roles at Citibank throughout his career, both in the Middle East and in Europe. He first worked there in 1989 as a relationship manager responsible for a portfolio of financial institutions in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.

In 2000 he was transferred to Europe where he became a risk manager and senior credit officer for Bank Handlowy, a member of Citigroup, in Warsaw, Poland.

In related news, Europe Arab Bank appointed His Excellency Dr Umayya Salah Toukan, the former governor of the Central Bank of Jordan, as a non-executive director on the board of the London-based bank.