Shamil Bank, a leading Bahrain-based Islamic commercial and investment bank and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ithmaar Bank said it has appointed Brooke Borden as assistant general manager, Investment Banking.

Borden, comes to Shamil Bank with more than 20 years of investment banking, private equity and mergers and acquisitions experience.

A seasoned investment banker, Borden has previously led initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Nasdaq (United States) and Tadawul (Saudi Arabia) exchanges.

With prior senior management experience at financial institutions in the Middle East and the United States, Borden has successfully managed and led major public offerings and investment funds.

As Head of Investment Banking at Riyad Capital, an investment banking subsidiary of Riyad Bank, Borden led several IPO mandates and merger and acquisition engagements.

As principal and director, Private Equity of Virchow Krause Capital, a position he held for five years, Borden structured, documented and placed more than 20 private placements including two actively managed real estate funds and other transactions ranging from $5 million to $50 million.

Over the course of his career, Borden built three investment banking operating units and corporate finance specialists as well as a pure greenfield start-up.

His varied banking experience has seen him hold senior management positions at I-many, Inc, Portland as director of Corporate Finance and as managing director/acting CEO of Cyberplacements, Inc/Jesup & Lamont Capital Markets, New York.

He has also held the position of managing director of Corporate Finance at BDO Seidman, LLP & BDO Corporate Finance, LLC, New York and director, Corporate Finance with Janssen/Meyers Associates, New York where he underwrote two Nasdaq IPO's and numerous private equity placements.

"I look forward to my new role at one of Bahrain's leading Islamic banks," said Borden.

"With a high level of cross-border transaction experience, Brooke brings a wealth of knowledge to his new role as assistant general manager, Investment Banking," said Faisal Mansoor Alalwan, CEO, Shamil Bank.

"Brooke's comprehensive insight into the global investment industry and diverse, management expertise will be particularly valuable to our team as we prepare to enter a phase of high growth and expansion.

"We look forward to benefiting from Brooke's prior hands-on experience with leading private equity transactions and IPOs," Alalwan added.

Shamil Bank, which has made a tremendous impact on the GCC's dynamic banking industry, is as part of the Ithmaar banking group, the most diversified financial services group operating globally from the Middle East, and is well positioned to enter new markets and further diversify its portfolio of innovative products.

Shamil Bank had announced, earlier this year, the successful closing of its Sharia compliant Murabaha facility for the Shamil Bosphorus Modaraba Fund.

The two-year Murabaha financing will undertake projects in Istanbul and on the Turkish coast in excess of $450 million.

Shamil Bank, an Islamic Retail Bank, was established in June 2000 with an authorised capital of $230 million.

Its' shareholders' profits reached $420 by the end of 2007.

The bank is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain and operates under Sharia'a supervision.

The bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ithmaar Bank, that was established in the Kingdom of Bahrain on August 13, 1984 as a full service investment bank with a current capital of $537.4 million (its shareholders' profits reached $4,078.8 million).

Ithmaar Bank is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain. - TradeArabia News Service