Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank Ithmaar has named its general manager Ahmed Abdul Rahim as the acting chief executive officer effective September 1 in place of Mohammed Bucheerei who retires on August 31.

Lauding his services, Ithmaar Bank chairman Prince Amr Al Faisal, said: “Bucheerei will conclude his long banking career when he retires at the end of August. During his long, illustrious banking career, he made major contributions, most recently as the Ithmaar CEO. We are deeply grateful for his contributions and wish him all the best.”

He paid tributes to Bucheerei’s achievements during a career spanning over more than 43 years, and congratulated Ahmed on his latest appointment.

“Ithmaar’s growing success as an Islamic retail bank is, in many ways, a result of Bucheerei’s leadership,” said Prince Amr. “His success throughout his award-winning career and, in particular, at Ithmaar, is a result of his vast experience in accounting, marketing, commercial and offshore banking, coupled with his unfaltering dedication,” he added.

“Bucheerei’s success at the helm of Ithmaar is the crowning achievement of his international banking career,” said the chairman. “His success is a direct result of his absolute commitment and exceptional work ethics – and, on behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish him all the very best with his well-earned retirement plans,” he added.

Bucheerei, who was also the chief operating officer of Dar Al-Maal Al-Islami Trust, Ithmaar’s largest shareholder, has played a key role within the group over the past 22 years and contributed directly, and in very significant ways, to the group’s success.

“Leading Ithmaar’s successful transformation from a conventional investment bank into an Islamic retail bank was both extremely challenging and very rewarding, particularly as our achievements have been recognized and well received and we are now reaping the rewards,” said a proud Bucheerei.

On Ahmed’s appointment, Prince Amr said it was in line with Ithmaar’s commitment to becoming the region’s premier Islamic retail bank. Ahmed is a seasoned banker with an impressive thirty-five year banking career."

In his most recent role as the GM (Retail Banking), he led a dramatic growth in the bank’s core retail banking business with a more than 100 per cent surge in new customer relationships following our April 2010 reorganisation, stated the chairman.

“Ahmed’s established retail banking track record uniquely positions him to lead Ithmaar into the next phase of growth as we continue to work towards becoming the region’s premier Islamic retail bank,” he added.

Prior to Ithmaar’s reorganisation with its then wholly-owned subsidiary, Shamil Bank, and its subsequent transformation into an Islamic retail bank, Abdul Rahim held the dual roles of Ithmaar chief operating officer and Shamil Bank deputy CEO and has played a major role in ensuring the seamless reorganization of Ithmaar and Shamil into Ithmaar Bank in April 2010.

He had also held senior positions, including Manager FX and Funding, chief internal auditor and, later, assistant GM Corporate Services at the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB).

Ahmed holds an MBA from the University of Glamorgan, Wales (UK), and is an Associate in Financial Accounting from the Institute of Financial Accountants, London (UK).

He also holds an Executive Management Diploma from the University of Bahrain and an Advanced Banking Diploma from the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance.-TradeArabia News Service