Baker & McKenzie announces that Tom Thraya and James Reed, both corporate partners, have relocated to the firm’s Abu Dhabi office from Chicago and London respectively.

HSBC Bank Middle East has appointed Simon Johnson as regional head of commercial banking. In this role, Johnson will oversee all commercial banking business across the Middle East region.

Barclays Wealth, a global wealth management institution, has apponited Harry Martin as director to its international private banking team in the Middle East.

Mark Bailey has been appointed head of EMEA for Bank of America Merrill Lynch's global equity financing and services platform.

Dubai-based Abraaj Capital, the largest private equity company in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA), has appointed Ashok Aram as a managing director after a 15-year career at Deutsche Bank.

DLA Piper has appointed Abdul Aziz Al-Yaqout to the role of office managing partner for Kuwait. Al-Yaqout, a Kuwaiti national, will relocate to Kuwait from DLA Piper’s Cologne office.

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has appointed Nigel Carrington as divisional manager of operations.

Citi has appointed Bill Mills and Alberto Verme as CEOs and new regional leaders in the EMEA region. Mills will continue to be responsible for Citi’s business in Western Europe and Africa and Verme for the business in Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank, has appointed Jonathan Brown, managing director, head of emerging markets syndicate and head of European credit syndicate.

Lukas Ruflin has been appointed deputy CEO of EFG International, returning from EFG Financial Products which he co-founded in 2007. In his new role, he will focus on further development and execution of the firm’s strategy, working closely with CEO Lawrence Howell and his colleagues in the executive committee.

Troika Dialog, one of the leading Russian investment banks, has appointed Paolo Zaniboni as head of the company’s London office. In addition, Zaniboni, who has been with Troika since June 2007, will continue his work as head of research.

First National Bank of Botswana Limited (FNBB) has appointed Lorato Boakgomo-Ntakhwana as CEO of the bank. She will be the first Motswana woman to hold this position.