Mr Salim Sfeir, Chairman and General Manager of Bank of Beirut – the major shareholder in Beirut Hellenic Bank (BHB), visited Melbourne, Sydney and Perth last week to meet BHB customers and business leaders.
The Bank of Beirut is the major shareholder in BHB, which was created when Bank of Beirut bought a 92.5 per cent share of Laiki Bank Australia earlier this year.
The visit by Mr Sfeir included officially openening new branches of Beirut Hellenic Bank in Sydney’s Parramatta, Burwood and Marrickville suburbs, and Brunswick in Melbourne. Mr Sfeir also visited Perth to host BHB events for customers and the business community.
BHB Managing Director, James Wakim, said that he believed Mr Sfeir’s presence in Australia was well appreciated by BHB customers, “Not only did Mr Sfeir enjoy getting to know them, but they also appreciated the fact that the Chairman of the Bank of Beirut flew all the way to Australia to personally meet and converse with them.
“We are growing BHB by providing market-leading customer service – this visit by the Chairman was an indication of how serious we take that mission.”
Meanwhile, BHB has announced the appointment of Steven Pambris as the company’s new Deputy CEO Steven Pambris.
Mr Pambris, who spent 37 years working for Westpac (formerly Bank of New South Wales) and has held numerous roles across the banking spectrum, told Neos Kosmos that he believes the opportunities for BHB are “limitless – from expanding our retail customer base to further expanding our trade finance division.” Mr Pambris added: “BHB enters the market as a real threat to the major banks, due to our level of service and deep understanding and experience interacting with multicultural Australia.”