British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB) has appointed Michael Rolfe as head of commodity finance.

He replaces Richard Starsmeare, who left the bank last year.

Based in London, Rolfe’s main focus will be on developing BACB’s activities with commodity trading companies in the UK and Europe, with a particular focus on the metals, energy and agricultural sectors.

Rolfe joins BACB from Bank Leumi, where he served for five years as head of commodity finance, moving from GE Artesia Bank, where he spent just over a year as head of the oil and energy desk. Prior to this, he worked at UniCredit, most recently as global head of commodity trade finance.

Speaking about his appointment, Rolfe says: “BACB’s expertise and competence in doing business in challenging markets is one of the main reasons I was attracted to this role. The commodity trade finance market perennially brings new opportunities through product innovation, banks stepping out of the business or changing trade flows.”

Susie Aliker, CEO of BACB, adds: “Last year saw our commodity finance activity realigned in accordance with the bank’s revised risk appetite, and Mike brings the vision and expertise to take this business forward. This will see us continue to move away from sole-banked clients and towards lending to a wider multi-banked client base active in trading physical commodity products that benefit from futures markets or generally good commodity market liquidity. His experience speaks for itself and we are delighted to have him on board.”