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Crown Agents Bank (CAB) has made a number of appointments, including Duarte Pedreira as the new head of its trade finance department, as part of a post-acquisition expansion strategy.

The bank is bringing in four senior leaders to its London-based trade finance, commercial, credit risk and anti-financial crime teams. The expansion forms part of a strategy to grow CAB’s capabilities, especially in trade finance and correspondent banking, and to strengthen its reputation in emerging markets. It follows its acquisition earlier this year by Helios Investors, a fund advised by the Africa-focused private investment firm Helios Investment Partners.

Pedreira (pictured) joins from AIG where he held a role as manager of international trade credit. He started his trade finance career in 2005 at the London office of Banif Bank and has since held senior roles at Caspian Sea Capital and Standard Bank in Africa.

Commenting on his new role, Pedreira says: “We have the ambition to be the leading trade finance provider across the world’s emerging markets – and especially to underserved markets. I’ve had a strong focus on these markets throughout my career, I understand the challenges they present as well as the opportunities they offer.”

CAB has also appointed Colin Westlake as its sector head of commercial banks, where he will lead the bank’s effort to link commercial banks within emerging markets to major money centres. Before joining CAB, Westlake worked at Standard Chartered Bank for more than 38 years, most recently as head of network banks Europe.

Paul Nolan joins CAB as its money laundering reporting officer and head of the anti-financial crime team. Having worked for 30 years at Citi and Northern Trust, his responsibilities at CAB will encompass all aspects of anti-financial crime including fraud, anti-bribery and corruption.

Finally, Simon Harris has been appointed as non-executive chair of the credit risk committee, where he will be in charge of CAB’s credit risk policies, principles, procedures and portfolios. Harris joins with more than 30 years of experience in credit risk, particularly in Africa and Asia. He has previously held senior roles at HSBC and most recently as regional credit officer for Africa and Europe at Standard Chartered Bank.

“Crown Agents Bank will continue its expansion, with the aim of enhancing our services to existing and new clients during a time of widespread retreat from emerging markets by mainstream banks,” CAB’s group CEO Richard Jones says in a statement.

CAB operates in emerging and fragile markets, primarily in Africa, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. Among their clients are governments, NGOs, financial institutions, and corporate and commercial enterprises.