British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB) has appointed Damian Austin to the newly formed role of chief banking officer.

The London-headquartered bank says Austin will be responsible for key business development activities across trade finance, real estate and payment services and will retain oversight of corporate and financial institution coverage.

The banker joins BACB’s executive committee and reports directly to freshly-appointed CEO Paul Jennings.

Austin had been head of trade finance since joining BACB in September last year from Bank ABC, where he held various trade and transaction banking leadership roles during an almost seven-year stint. Earlier in his career he held trade roles at Barclays, HSBC and WestLB.

BACB focuses on wholesale banking in developing markets, with a strong presence in trade flows from the Middle East and Africa.