Gatehouse Bank has hired Irfan Afzal as head of structured trade finance and syndication to work in the bank’s London offices.

Before joining the shariah-compliant bank, Afzal served at Oceanic Bank UK as executive director, head of banking and corporate finance, and at KBC’s global trade finance group as head of energy.

Afzal has also held senior positions at Calyon CIB, Chase Manhattan and ABN Amro.

Afzal has worked on origination and the execution of cross-border structured finance deals, particularly in the oil and gas sector, in a range of markets including Russia, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Africa.

“Gatehouse will continue to build upon its progressive track record in real estate investments, with structured trade finance as a new and developing growth area focusing on client demands in the corporate market,” the bank says in a statement.