Frederick Stonehouse began his banking career in 1975 as a graduate management trainee in the international banking division of National Westminster Bank, based in the City of London. During the ensuing 32 years, he has worked in London, Dubai, Madrid and Bahrain for major UK, US, Arab, Spanish and Turkish financial institutions, gaining experience in a diversified range of banking disciplines and markets.
Between 1983 and 1998 Mr. Stonehouse held a succession of senior management positions at the Arab Banking Corporation Group in Bahrain, Spain and London, including AGM & Head of Commercial Banking, Advisor-International at Banco Atlantico, Madrid, and General Manager of ABC International Bank PLC, London. During this period he was responsible for a wide range of products and markets, including major syndicated credits for sovereign and corporate borrowers in Europe, such as the Republic of France, National Bank of Hungary, Deutsche Aussenhandelsbank and Fiat Group, and debt-to-equity swaps in Brazil, Argentina and Jordan. In 1998 Mr. Stonehouse joined Arab Bank Group as UK Regional Manager, and was subsequently promoted to Europe Regional Manager, with responsibility for Arab Bank’s branches in the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Greece. These branches were active in corporate banking, trade finance, treasury, capital markets and private banking. He also served on several of Arab Bank’s high level committees, including the Group ALCO, the Supervisory Committee for Global Personal Banking, and the Global Strategy Review Committee.
In 2002 Mr. Stonehouse was appointed General Manager and Member of the Board of Sabanci Bank PLC, a UK-incorporated bank owned by the Sabanci Group, one of the leading business conglomerates in Turkey and majority shareholder in Akbank. The Group’s international partners included Toyota, Du Pont, IBM, Philip Morris, and Carrefour. In 2004 Mr. Stonehouse returned to Bahrain as one of the senior management team involved in the establishment of International Investment Bank, a globally-focused Islamic investment bank whose shareholders include major institutions and high net worth individuals from across the GCC countries.
Mr. Stonehouse’s extensive international banking and general management experience, together with his knowledge of the Arab World, will be of particular value to Unicorn Investment Bank’s worldwide mergers and acquisitions initiatives, in both the pre- and post- acquisition stages.
Mr. Stonehouse graduated from the University of Hull in 1975 with a Joint Honours Degree in French and Spanish.
