Six executives involved in Manama’s financial services sector: Rasheed Mohammed al-Maraj, Abdul Razak Hassan al-Qassim, Abdulkarim Ahmed Bucheery, Adel el-Labban, Mohammed Ebrahim Mohammed and Adnan Ahmed Yousif
Rasheed Mohammed al-Maraj
Position: Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB)
Biography: As governor of the CBB since 2005, Rasheed Mohammed al-Maraj has become one of the most respected central bankers in the region. Prior to Dubai’s emergence, Bahrain was the region’s finance hub. The reorganisation of the Bahrain Monetary Agency into the CBB in 2006 gave Al-Maraj responsibility for promoting the development of Islamic finance and the country as an Islamic finance hub. While Manama has been losing ground to Dubai, the CBB continues to be well regarded as a regulator and in recent years has negotiated several challenges, including heavy losses by local banks during the financial crisis, defaults by local lenders owned by two indebted Saudi conglomerates, and the recent political unrest. Before joining the central bank, Al-Maraj was chief executive officer (CEO) of Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation and was on the board of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain.
Contact Tel: (+973) 1 754 7777
Abdul Razak Hassan al-Qassim
Position: CEO and director, National Bank of Bahrain (NBB)
Biography: Abdul Razak Hassan al-Qassim was appointed CEO of NBB on 31 March 2008. NBB is the largest lender in the country, with the largest network of branches. Prior to assuming leadership of the bank, Al-Qassim had been a general manager at NBB for 10 years. He joined the company in 1977 after starting his career in international banking. He spent the nine years prior to joining NBB with the UK’s Standard Chartered, then Chase Manhattan Bank, now part of the US’ JP Morgan. Al-Qassim has a master’s degree in management sciences and a Sloan Fellowship from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. He also sits on the boards of Bahrain Telecommunications Company, the Benefits Company, Eskan Bank and Oasis Capital Bank, and is a board member of the Crown Prince International Scholarship Programme.
Contact Tel: (+973) 1 722 8800
Abdulkarim Ahmed Bucheery
Position: CEO, Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait
Biography: Abdulkarim Ahmed Bucheery joined Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) in 2002. Since then he has led the bank’s expansion into Kuwait, Dubai and India. BBK is now one of the largest banks in Bahrain, having grown substantially since it was established in 1971. Bucheery has more than 30 years of experience in banking and continues to drive BBK’s expansion. In October 2012, the bank announced that its profits for the first nine months of the year had risen by 18.2 per cent, compared to the same period in 2011. Bucheery is also vice-chairman of Bahrain Credit Facilities, chairman of BBK’s investment arm, Capinnova Islamic Investment Bank, and the local CrediMax, and is a member of the management board of local real estate company Naseej. In 2010, he was appointed chairman of the Bahrain Association of Banks. Bucheery has a degree in economics from Aleppo University in Syria.
Contact Tel: (+973) 1 722 3388
Adel el-Labban
Position: Group CEO, Ahli United Bank
Biography: Adel el-Labban has been a director at Ahli United Bank since 2000. Although the bank was hit by the defaults of two Saudi conglomerates in 2008 and put aside more than $100m in provisions as a result, El-Labban has been keen to ensure it takes a conservative stance on these issues. Ahli, the largest bank in Bahrain by market value, recently reported an 11 per cent rise in profits for the third quarter of the year. It was formed following the merger of Bahrain’s Al-Ahli Commercial Bank and Kuwait’s United Bank of Kuwait in 2000. It also has a presence in the UK, Egypt, Libya, Oman and Qatar, and employs more than 3,200 people. In the past, El-Labban has held senior roles with Arab Banking Corporation, Commercial International Bank of Egypt, the US’ Morgan Stanley, and United Bank of Kuwait. He has an undergraduate and a master’s degree in economics from the American University in Cairo.
Contact Tel: (+973) 1 758 5858
Mohammed Ebrahim Mohammed
Position: CEO, Bahrain Islamic Bank
Biography: Since joining Bahrain Islamic Bank in 2007, Mohammed Ebrahim Mohammed has steered the lender through the 2008-09 financial crisis. In 2008, he became CEO of the bank, which was the first Islamic commercial lender in Bahrain when established in 1979. In the first nine months of 2012, the bank made a loss as a result of higher provisions. Mohammed has more than 30 years’ experience in banking, including positions at CrediMax, BBK, Saudi National Commercial Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank. Since 2009, he has been a director at Gulf Finance House, the troubled local investment bank. Mohammed has a management diploma from the University of Bahrain, and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Glamorgan in the UK. He is a graduate of the Gulf executive development programme from the University of Virginia in the US.
Contact Tel: (+973) 1 754 6111
Adnan Ahmed Yousif
Position: Board member, president and CEO, Al-Baraka Banking Corporation
Biography: Adnan Ahmed Yousif has been on the board of Al-Baraka since its inception in 2002, and in August 2004 became its president and CEO. He is also chairman of Jordan Islamic Bank, Banque al-Baraka D’Algerie, Al-Baraka Turk Participation Bank, Al-Baraka Bank South Africa, Al-Baraka Bank Egypt, Al-Baraka Bank Lebanon, Al-Baraka Bank Syria and Al-Baraka Bank Pakistan. Yousif also holds directorships in Al-Baraka Bank Sudan, Al-Baraka Islamic Bank Bahrain and Al-Baraka Bank Tunisia. In 2007, he became chairman of the Union of Arab Banks and in May 2010 was re-elected for another four-year term. Between 1998 and 2000, he was chairman and CEO of ABC Islamic Bank, and he has also held senior positions at Investment Bank of Asia in Hong Kong. Yousif has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Hull in the UK.
Contact Tel: (+973) 1 754 1122
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