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UK honours Dr
Yousef Al-Awadi
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Dr
Yousef Al Awadi (pictured left), Chief General Manager and Chief
Executive Officer of Gulf Bank, was presented in January with the Insignia of
an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
by the British Ambassador in Kuwait, Christopher Wilton, at a ceremony
at the British Embassy in Kuwait. Commenting on the award, the Ambassador said,
“Dr Al Awadi has worked for 13 years in the City of London from 1990 to
2003. For 10 years he was the President and CEO of the Kuwait Investment Office
in London. During this time he worked tirelessly to enhance the business,
investment and cultural relationship between Kuwait and the United Kingdom.
During his previous work, and since his return to Kuwait, he has also
contributed with great energy to the close and substantial ties between the two
countries. The Kuwait Investment Office is one of the world’s leading
investment vehicles and during the period of Dr Al Awadi’s leadership,
London has become one of the major financial centres for managing the global
investments of the Kuwait Government”. |
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Gehad Madi
(left) has returned
to London as Egypt’s Ambassador to the Court of St James. Between 1992-96
he was Counsellor and later Minister Plenipotentiary at the Egyptian Embassy.
Since his return he has been very busy, most recently overseeing the
conference, Egypt: Investing in Reform, held in London on 15 March. He
presented his credentials to the Queen in October. |
APICORP names
new GM
The Board of
Directors of Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), an
affiliate of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OAPEC), has appointed Ahmed Bin Hamad Al-Noaimi as a new General
Manager of the Corporation, to succeed
Rasheed
Mohamed Al-Maraj, who has been appointed as the Governor of the Bahrain
Monetary Agency.
Al-Noaimi (pictured left) represented Qatar on
APICORP’s board of directors from 1992 to 2004, and also held a number of
senior positions at the Ministry of Finance, the most recent among them was an
Economic Advisor to Higher Council for Economic Affairs and Investments in
Qatar. |
Top award for
Adnan Yousif
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Adnan
Ahmed Yousif (right), Chief Executive Officer of Albaraka Banking
Group (ABG) was awarded the prestigious ‘Islamic Banker of the Year
– 2004’ award, which is based on a poll conducted by secret
ballot amongst top financial and high ranking personalities in the field of
Islamic banking all over the world and co-ordinated and audited by Ernst
& Young, Bahrain. The parameters for the award were based on launching
of new products and services to widen the range of services provided by Islamic
banks, facilitating completion of a major deal and promotion of the Islamic
banking practices in compliance with the Islamic Sharia’a. The
award was presented at a ceremony in Bahrain.
Yousif previously worked
with American Express and Arab Banking Corporation, where he last
held the position of Executive Chairman of ABC Islamic Bank EC. He was
Chief Executive Officer of Bahrain Islamic Bank from 2002 to 2004. He
has consolidated the operations of the ABG, which engages in commercial retail
and investment banking and treasury activities in the MENA region, South
Africa, Sudan, and Pakistan. Yousif was recently elected Deputy Chairman of the
Union of Arab Banks. |
Bahamdan
honoured
The
Union of Arab Banks named Abdullah Salem Bahamdan, Chairman of
the National Commmerical Bank of of Saudi Arabia as Arab Banker of
the Year 2004 at its board of directors’ meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in
early April. Lebanese banker Joseph Tarabia was re-elected Chairman, and
Adnan Ahmed Yousif, CEO of the Albaraka Banking Group, was elected as
Deputy Chairman. |
Fadi Mudarres
joins King & Spalding
Fadi
Mudarres (pictured right) has left the the Mergers &
Acquisitions group at SJ Berwin to join the London office of King
& Spalding. Mudarres, a director of the Arab Bankers Association,
previously was associated with Sullivan & Cromwell in Washington DC
and also spent two years working in Saudi Arabia. He holds a Juris Doctorate
degree from the Washington College of Law of The American University and a
Master of Laws in Banking and Finance from University College London. His
primary areas of practice are Private Equity and Islamic Finance.
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ABA Gala
Dinner raises funds
The last
ABA Gala Dinner raised funds for charities and provided a networking
opportunity for bankers and other business people
John Bauer, United Gulf Bank (far left) with Jawad Ali, King
& Spalding
From left to right,
George Kardouche, Arab Bankers Association; Randa Sadik, National Bank of
Kuwait Int’l plc; Jamal Abi-Chahine, American Express Bank; Leila
Alameddine, JP Morgan; Ghassan Abdul Karim, Goldman Sachs Int'l; Najlaa
Taki-Eddine, GE Consumer Finance
Above from left to right,
Mohab Mufti, Gulf Int'l Bank Limited and Saleh Romeih, Deutsche Bank Middle
East Managing Director |
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Above from left to right,
Ziad El Amin, UBS, Salman Khalifa, UBS and Faisal Al-Awadi, Goldman Sachs Int'l
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Above from left to right, Abbas Mozafarian,
Mozafarian Jewellers, George Kardouche, Arab Bankers Association, Fawzia
Beidas, Amanda Kardouche, Edward Eyerman, Fitch Ratings |
New MD for
Saudi Hollandi Bank
Saudi
Hollandi Bank has appointed Giel-Jan van der Tol, currently the
Chief Operating Officer, as Managing Director with effect from 1 May 2005. He
will succeed Peter Baltussen, who has been appointed President of the
French private banking organisation of ABN AMRO as from 1 May 2005.
Peter Baltussen will head the wealth management and asset management activities
in France conducted through Banque de Neuflize and Banque OBC,
both wholly owned by the Dutch ABN AMRO group. |
ABA Sohour
gets bankers networking
The
Arab Bankers Association arranged a major networking opportunity for
bankers in London by arranging a Ramadan Sohour, traditional gathering that is
not necessarily restricted to those observing the month of fasting.
Above from left to right, Jamal
Abi-Chahine, American Express Bank; Saleha Lahiani-Dao; Noura Abi-Chahine Ayman
Zouheiri, HSBC Private Banking (facing camera); and Sami Tamim (facing camera)
and below clockwise from left, George Kardouche, Arab Bankers
Association; Yousef Meshiea, Newlords International (UK) Ltd; Majid Dawood,
Yasaar Limited ; Doretta Meshiea; Ashok Dani, Amas Investment & Project
Services Ltd and (with backs to camera) Amanda Kardouche and Eid
Al-Rayyes Al-Rasheedi, Kuwait Investment Office
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Egypt:
Investing in Reform conference
CIB
Chairman and Managing Director Hisham Ezz El Arab (pictured left)
was a panellist at a recent London conference, Egypt: Investing in
Reform, which also featured a delegation of ministers from the Government
of Egypt. The conference was marked by a candid and open discussion about the
scale of challenges facing Egypt in implementing the reform schedule. The
Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce acted as a partner at the
conference, which will be followed by a further international gathering in
Cairo on 13-14 September. |
Doha Bank
makes its mark
Rahavan Seetharaman, Acting General Manager of Doha Bank, won
praise for the bank’s impressive performance in 2004 and for developing an
integrated business and technology strategy in the bank, implementing various
business and technology initiatives. Seetharaman joined Doha Bank in 2002 as
Assistant General Manager Technology & Operations Group and was elevated to
his current position in April 2004.
Seetharaman has nearly two decades
of experience in banking, information technology and consultancy. Prior to
moving to Doha, he was Assistant General Manager at Bank Muscat and
Commercial Bank of Oman, handling technology and operations. He was also
previoulsy the acting General Manager at Bank of Oman, Bahrain &
Kuwait. |
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