Senior management appointment in MENA for Deutsche Bank

Dr Azzam joins on 1 May 2007 and will be based in Dubai, reporting to Juergen Fitschen, Group Executive Committee member and Global Head of Regional Management. The current CEO of the region, Ken Borda is retiring.

Dr Azzam is currently Chief Executive Officer of Amwal Invest, a company he founded in May 2005 and has guided it through its first two years of operations. He is also currently the chairman of Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX).

Before establishing Amwal Invest Dr. Azzam was the CEO of Jordinvest (2001-2004), Managing Director of Middle East Capital Group (1998-2001), AGM and Chief Economist of the National Commercial Bank, Jeddah Saudi Arabia (1990-1998) and Vice President and Chief Economist of Gulf International Bank, Bahrain (1983-1990). Before that he worked with the Arab Fund in Kuwait and taught economics at the American University of Beirut.

He holds a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Southern California in Los-Angeles and a BA and MA from the American University of Beirut. He has five books published in the UK, the last one "The Arab Economies Facing the Challenge of the New Millennium."

Dr Azzam takes over the role of CEO MENA from Ken Borda who is retiring after 18 years with Deutsche Bank in a number of senior roles in the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Prior to taking up his MENA role in March 2005, he was Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank for Asia Pacific based in Hong Kong and remained Chairman of that region in addition to his MENA position. Before moving to Hong Kong, Borda was the Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank for Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Borda has now taken on a number of Non-Executive Directorships including; Fullerton Fund Management Company, the asset management arm of Temasek, Singapore; Ithmaar Bank B.S.C., a Bahrain publicly listed investment bank and Santos Ltd, a major listed Australian energy group.

Juergen Fitschen said:

"We have an ambitious growth strategy in MENA and the appointment of Dr Azzam with his regional knowledge and contacts will be key to driving this strategy forward in the region while drawing on the Bank's global expertise. Ken Borda has made a long lasting contribution to Deutsche Bank in both the MENA and Asia Pacific region over a number of years and we wish him all the best in the future."