Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank Gulf Finance House has appointed Hisham Alrayes as acting chief executive officer, it said in a bourse filing on Tuesday.

Alrayes, previously GFH's chief investment officer, will be responsible for overlooking the overall performance of the bank including the management of the bank's assets and liabilities.

He replaces chief executive Ted Pretty who left the cash-stripped firm last year after failing to return the firm to profitability.

GFH has been hard hit by the Gulf's economic crisis and struggled throughout 2010 to pay back the debt it took on during the Gulf property boom that ended in 2008. – Reuters