TRADER NOTE: New North America shipping, offshore energy chief at ABN AMRO

Francis Birkeland has been named regional head of shipping and offshore energy North America within ABN AMRO's Energy, Commodities & Transportation (ETC) business. Birkeland is to be based in New York and will be responsible for the bank's US and Canadian energy financing business. The ECT business provides banking services to global clients in sectors like commodity finance, shipping, oil & gas and offshore oil services. --Luciano Battistini, luciano_battistini@platts.com --Edited by Robert DiNardo, robert_dinardo@platts.com