Global Finance’s first annual list of Who’s Who in The Middle East.
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Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
Ala’a Eraiqat, CEO and executive director
Eraiqat joined ADCB in 2004 and was named CEO in 2009. He previously held senior positions in the UAE at Citi and Standard Chartered Bank. Eraiqat is also chairman of ADCB’s Al Dhabi Brokerage Services subsidiary and CEO of ADCB Meethaq, the bank’s Islamic banking division.
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
Tirad Al-Mahmoud, CEO
Al-Mahmoud joined ADIB in 2008, after serving as general manager and head of the corporate and investment banking division of Samba Financial Group in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He spent 22 years at Citi, where he held various positions, including CEO of Citibank Romania and Slovakia.
Ahli United Bank
Adel El-Labban, Group CEO and managing director
El-Labban joined AUB in Bahrain in 2002. He was previously CEO of United Bank of Kuwait in the UK. Before that he was managing director of Commercial International Bank of Egypt. El-Labban has also worked at Arab Banking Corporation and Morgan Stanley.
Al Ain Ahlia Insurance
Mohammed Mazhar Hamadeh, General manager
Hamadeh joined Al Ain Ahlia when the company was formed in 1975 in the United Arab Emirates. He started as Al Ain branch manager and was named general manager in 1995. A Jordanian national, Hamadeh is a member of the executive board of Gulf Insurance Federation and chairman of the motor and legal affairs committee of the Emirates Insurance Association.
Al Baraka Banking Group
Adnan Ahmed Yousif, President and CEO
Yousif has been a director of Al Baraka since its inception in Bahrain in 2002, and has been president and CEO since 2004. The group now has a network of 550 branches in 15 countries. Yousif served two terms as chairman of the Union of Arab Banks, Lebanon.
Al Hilal Bank
Mohamed Jamil Berro, Group CEO
Berro joined Al Hilal Bank as the founding group CEO in 2008. Previously, he was global head of personal banking for Arab Bank. Prior to that, he held senior positions at National Bank of Kuwait and Crédit Agricole in Egypt.
Arab African International Bank
Hassan Abdalla, CEO and vice chairman
Abdalla was named to his current position in 2002. He joined AAIB in 1982 after graduating from American University in Cairo. He started in the back office to the dealing room and was named chief dealer in 1989. He became general manager of AAIB 10 years later. Abdalla is a board member of Union de Banques Arabes et Francaises in Paris and is chairman of UBAF Bank Hong Kong.
Arab Banking Corporation
Khaled Kawan, Group CEO
Kawan joined ABC in Bahrain in 1991 and was group legal counsel until 2009, when he was named group deputy CEO. He became group CEO in 2013. Kawan is chairman of ABC Islamic Bank and Arab Banking Corporation, Egypt.
Aramex
Hussein Hachem, CEO
Hachem has 22 years of regional and international experience in the logistics and transportation industries. He joined Aramex in Kuwait to reestablish operations after the 1991 Gulf War. He later became general manager in Kuwait, Sri Lanka and the UAE. In 2005, he was named vice president, UAE and Oman, and later became CEO for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Arab National Bank
Robert Eid, Managing director and CEO
Eid has held his current position at ANB in Saudi Arabia since 2005. Previously, he worked at National Bank of Kuwait for 22 years. Based in London, he headed NBK’s international network and was managing director of the bank’s UK subsidiary. He also served as vice chairman of NBK’s Lebanon subsidiary.
Bank Audi
Samir Hanna, General manager and group CEO
Hanna joined Bank Audi in 1963 and was named general manager and group CEO CK in 1986, then member of the board in 1990. He transformed the bank into a universal bank and expanded it to become the largest in Lebanon, with a presence in 13 countries and assets of more than $42 billion. Hanna is also chairman of Odeabank in Turkey and sits on the boards of several other Bank Audi affiliates.
BankMed
Mohamed Ali Beyhum, Executive general manager
Beyhum joined BankMed in 2005 and was named to his current position in 2010. He is also chairman of MedSecurities and Emkan Finance, which offers microfinance services. Earlier in his career, Beyhum worked at Irving Trust and Bank of New York in the US and as the firm’s senior representative in Lebanon.
BankMuscat
AbdulRazaq Ali Issa, CEO
Issa has been CEO of BankMuscat, Oman’s leading bank, since 1994. He started his career with Grindlays Bank in Oman in 1969. Issa is a member of the banking committee of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and sits on the advisory council of the World Union of Arab Banks.
Bank of Palestine
Hashim Shawa, Chairman and general manager
Shawa joined Bank of Palestine as chairman and general manager in 2007. He began his banking career in 1997 at Citi, where he held various management positions in corporate and private banking in the UK, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. In 2005 he joined HSBC in Switzerland as a director of the group’s Middle East and North Africa business. Shawa is a member of the Institute of International Finance’s Emerging Markets Advisory Council.
Bank of Sharjah
Varouj Nerguizian, Executive director and general manager
In addition to his position at Bank of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, Nerguizian is chairman and general manager of Emirates Lebanon Bank and chairman of the Lebanese Educational Fund. He began his career in 1972 at Banque G. Trad-Credit Lyonnais in Beirut and moved to Sharjah in 1977 as a member of the international staff of Banque Paribas. He was named general manager of Bank of Sharjah in 1992.
Banque Saudi Fransi
Patrice Couvegnes, Managing director
Couvegnes has been managing director of Banque Saudi Fransi since 2011. Previously, he served as senior regional officer for Asia at Crédit Agricole. Before that he was senior country officer of Calyon in Japan. Banque Saudi Fransi is part owned by Credit Agricole.
Barwa Bank
Khalid Al Subeai, Acting CEO
Khalid joined The First Investor, the investment banking arm of Barwa Bank, as deputy CEO in 2013 and was named acting CEO of Barwa Bank in 2014. Previously, he was senior financial adviser at Qatar Petroleum, where he was involved in $15 billion of debt capital market transactions. He also was Qatar manager at Morgan Stanley.
Beehive
Rick Pudner, Chairman
Beehive, a leading peer-to-peer lending platform in the United Arab Emirates, is the brainchild of Pudner, former group CEO of Emirates NBD, and Craig Moore, founder of Butterfly Software. Beehive facilitates funding solutions for established small and medium-size enterprises. Pudner spent 25 years of his 33-year banking career as an international executive with HSBC.
BLOM Bank
Saad Azhari, Chairman and general manager
Azhari was named chairman and GM of Lebanon’s BLOM Bank in 2008, after serving as vice chairman and GM from 2001. He joined BLOM Bank (Switzerland) in 1991 and was appointed GM in 1997. Previously, he worked at PBZ Privatbank, an affiliate of UBS, in Zurich, and ran the bank’s Middle East operations, as well as its Hong Kong office.
Burgan Bank
Eduardo Eguren, CEO
Eguren was named CEO of Kuwait-based Burgan Bank in 2010. Prior to that, he was CEO of global commercial banking for Barclays Bank in the UK. From 1984 until 2007, Eguren held senior leadership positions with Citi. Burgan Bank is a subsidiary of Kuwait Projects Company.
Byblos Bank
François Bassil, Chairman and general manager
Bassil has been chairman and GM of Byblos Bank since 1979. He is also serving his fourth term as chairman of the Association of Banks in Lebanon. Under his leadership Byblos has become one of the top banks in Lebanon, with a presence in 12 countries.
Commercial International Bank
Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, Chairman and managing director
Al-Arab was named to his current position in 2002. He joined CIB as deputy managing director in 1999 and saw CIB increase its market capitalization from $200 million to $4 billion. Al-Arab began his career at Arab African International Bank. He later worked in London and New York for Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank. He was elected chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Banks in 2013.
Doha Bank
Raghavan Seetharaman, Group CEO
Seetharaman has been group chief executive officer of Doha Bank since 2007. Previously, he held management positions at three banks in Oman. Seetharaman is a chartered accountant specializing in managerial economics and holds certificates in IT systems and corporate management.
Emirates Airline
Timothy Clark, President
Clark is president of Emirates Airline and chairman of the Emirates Airline Foundation. He joined British Caledonian in 1972 and Gulf Air in Bahrain in 1975. He moved to Dubai in 1985 and was a member of the founding team of Emirates Airline. He was named president of Emirates in 2003 and served as managing director of Sri Lankan Airlines from 1998 to 2008.
Emirates NBD
Shayne Nelson, Group CEO
Nelson became group CEO of Dubai’s largest bank in 2013. Previously, he served in Singapore as CEO of Standard Chartered Private Bank and was chairman of the bank’s Saadiq Islamic Advisory Board. He also was regional CEO of Standard Chartered Bank in the Middle East and North Africa and chairman of Standard Chartered (Pakistan).
Falcom Financial Services
Adeeb Al-Sowailim, CEO
Al-Sowailim has been CEO of Riyadh-based Falcom since it was founded in 2007. Falcom introduced the first exchange-traded fund in the Saudi market. Previously, Al-Sowailim worked at Samba Financial Services and Banque Saudi Fransi. He is a director of National Medical Care, which operates hospitals in Saudi Arabia.
Gulf Bank
César González-Bueno, CEO
González-Bueno was named CEO of Gulf Bank in March 2014. Previously, he was CEO of Novagalicia Banco, a Spanish bank he helped to restructure and privatize. Before that, he worked at ING for 13 years, where he was CEO of ING Direct Spain, and later head of its European division. He has also worked for the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey.
Gulf International Bank
Yahya Alyahya, CEO
Alyahya has served as CEO of GIB in Bahrain since 2009. He is also chairman of Gulf International Bank (UK) and a member of the board of the Washington, DC-based Institute of International Finance. Alyahya previously served on the board of the World Bank as executive director representing Saudi Arabia.
International Bank of Qatar
Jabra Ghandour, Managing Director
Ghandour joined IBQ in 2012, after serving as general manager of the National Bank of Kuwait in Jordan from 2005. Before that, Ghandour was head of private banking at NBK’s main office in Kuwait. He has also served as general manager of Merrill Lynch Jordan and held various managerial positions at local banks in Jordan.
Jadwa Investment
Tariq Al Sudairy, Managing director and CEO
Al Sudairy was named to his current position in May 2014. Previously, he was head of private equity and investment banking at Jadwa Investment. Before that, he held senior positions at private equity firm Amwal AlKhaleej and management consulting firm McKinsey.
Jordan Islamic Bank
Musa Shihadeh, Vice chairman and general manager
Shihadeh worked at conventional commercial banks from 1961 until 1980, when he joined Jordan Islamic Bank, a subsidiary of Al Baraka Bank. He has also served as chairman of the accounting committee of the Accounting and Auditing Standards Board for Islamic Financial Institutions, and on the board of the General Council for Islamic Banks.
Kingdom Holding
Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Chairman
Prince Alwaleed is founder, chairman and 95% owner of Kingdom Holding, a publicly traded company listed on Tadawul (Saudi Stock Exchange), and chairman of Alwaleed Foundations. He has a personal fortune of approximately $30 billion. Kingdom Holding is building the world’s tallest tower in Jeddah.
Kipco
Masaud Hayat, CEO, banking
Hayat was named CEO of banking at Kuwait Projects Company, Kuwait’s leading project management company, in 2010. He is chairman of United Gulf Bank, Syria Gulf Bank, and Tunis International Bank. Hayat is vice chairman of Gulf Bank Algeria, Bank of Baghdad, and Royal Capital.
Markaz
Manaf Alhajeri, CEO
Alhajeri has been CEO of Markaz since 2004. He had been deputy director in the investment department at Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. He speaks five languages and is a certified financial manager from the Institute of Management Accountants in the US.
Mashreq Bank
AbdulAziz Al Ghurair, CEO
In addition to serving as CEO of Mashreq Bank, Al Ghurair is also chairman of Dubai-based Abdulla Al Ghurair Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the region. In 2012 he was appointed chairman of the UAE Banking Federation. Al Ghurair was elected as speaker of the UAE Federal National Council, the country’s parliament, for four years ended in 2011.
MasterCard Middle East and Africa
Michael Miebach, President
Based in Dubai Internet City, Miebach joined MasterCard in 2010 from Barclays Bank, where he was managing director for the Middle East and North Africa. He has held senior level positions at Citi and helps bring the voices of young business leaders to the attention of the G20 as a member of the G-20Y Association’s advisory board.
National Bank of Abu Dhabi
Alex Thursby, Group CEO
Thursby was named group CEO of NBAD in 2013. Previously, he was CEO of international and institutional banking and of Asia-Pacific and America at ANZ Bank. Before that, he held various senior wholesale banking positions in his 21 years at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, London, Indonesia and Singapore.
National Bank of Kuwait
Isam Jasem Al Sager, Group CEO
Al Sager was named group CEO of NBK in March 2014. Previously, he was deputy group CEO. Al Sager began his career at NBK in 1987, rising from a relationship officer in the corporate banking group to become general manager of the retail and wholesale banking group in 1992, deputy CEO of NBK Kuwait in 1998, and CEO of NBK Kuwait in 2008.
Noor Investment Group
Hussain Al Qemzi, Group CEO
Al Qemzi heads Noor Investment Group and is also CEO of Noor Bank, a shariah-compliant bank in the United Arab Emirates. Previously, he was chief executive of Sharjah Islamic Bank. He has served on the board of the Dubai Financial Market and been chief operating officer of the Dubai International Financial Centre. Al Qemzi is vice chairman of Emaar Properties.
PineBridge Investments
Talal Al Zain, Regional CEO, MENA
Al Zain is responsible for managing investment activities in the Middle East and North Africa region for PineBridge Investments, a global asset manager. He is also a member of the firm’s executive committee and has joint management responsibility for alternative investments. Previously, he was CEO of sovereign wealth fund Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding.
Qatar Financial Centre Authority
Shashank Srivastava, CEO
Srivastava joined the QFC in 2006 as director of strategy and planning, after holding a similar position at the Dubai International Financial Centre. He was named acting CEO of QFC in 2009, and CEO in 2012.
Qatar National Bank
Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari, Group CEO
Al-Kuwari was named acting group CEO of QNB in July 2013 and then CEO last December. He had been executive general manager and group business officer at the bank, which he joined in 1988. Al-Kuwari is also chairman of QNB Capital and various international subsidiaries of QNB.
QInvest
Tamim Hamad Al-Kuwari, CEO
Al-Kuwari was named CEO of investment bank QInvest in 2012. Previously, he was managing director and country head for Qatar at Goldman Sachs. Before that, Al-Kuwari was chief financial officer at Qatargas Transport (Nakilat), after serving as treasurer. He began his career as a trader at Qatar National Bank.
SABB
David Dew, Managing Director
Dew was named to his current position in 2010. He joined SABB’s board in 2009 and is also on the board of HSBC Saudi Arabia, a joint venture of SABB and HSBC. Dew has been with HSBC since 1977 and is a group general manager. He has served as deputy CEO of HSBC Amanah, and chief of administration, global banking and markets, Middle East and North Africa. Before that, he was chief operating officer of HSBC North America. He has also been deputy CEO of HSBC Singapore and CEO for HSBC Italy.
Samba Financial Group
Eisa Mohammed Al-Eisa, Chairman, CEO and managing director
Al-Eisa is chairman, CEO and Managing Director of Samba Financial Group. He joined the bank in 1980 and held several positions before becoming chairman. He oversaw the bank’s merger with United Saudi Bank, its demerger from Citi to full local management, and Samba’s expansion into Dubai, Pakistan and Qatar, while increasing the bank’s capital from $1.6 billion to $5.3 billion and its earnings to a record of more than $1.3 billion
in 2014.
TVM Capital Healthcare
Helmut Schuehsler, Chairman and CEO
Schuehsler joined TVM Capital in 1990 and founded the life sciences and healthcare activities of the firm. TVM Capital is a private equity and growth capital firm focusing on companies in the healthcare markets of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as India and Turkey. He has overseen 85 investments in the sector and 40 initial public offerings.
Yemen LNG
Jacques Azibert, General Manager
Azibert was named general manager of Yemen LNG in 2013, after serving as managing director of French oil company Total’s exploration and production activities in Congo. Azibert, who holds a Master’s degree in chemical engineering, joined Total in 1980 and served as vice president of surface operations in the North Sea. He was chief operating officer of QatarGas from 2003 until 2008.
