Leading Bahraini bankers are being tipped for the post of governor of the Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA) to succeed Abdullah Saif who was appointed Bahraini finance minister in a cabinet reshuffle announced on 31 May. Local observers say that the prime minister and the BMA are expected to consider prominent local bankers, as well as candidates from within the agency, in their choice of candidate, who must be a Bahraini national.

Speculation on possible candidates from the banking community has focused on Murad Ali Murad, chief executive officer at Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait, and Mohammed al-Shroogi, a regional director at the US' Citibank. Other Bahrainis who are seen as equally qualified candidates include Jassem al-Mannai, director-general of the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund, and Hassan Ali Juma, managing director at National Bank of Bahrain. Murad says that he has not been approached but adds: 'The sooner the position is filled, the better. It is the prime minister's choice but it would be good if an appointment was made from the banking community.'

The governor of the BMA has a wide-ranging remit and supervises the activities of the national banks and the island's community of offshore banks, which include Arab Banking Corporation, the largest bank in the Arab world, and Gulf International Bank, the subsidiary of Gulf Investment Corporation, which is owned by the six states of the GCC. The BMA has also devised one of the few regulatory regimes to encompass Islamic banking and has a fast-expanding group of such institutions under its supervision.

Analysts say that a new governor will have a hard act to follow as Saif had presided over the development of a sophisticated agency with a worldwide reputation for effectiveness. Strict regulation has kept Bahrain free of the financial scandals that have tainted some other regional money centres. Saif himself became the first Bahraini national to head the BMA when he was appointed governor in 1981, having been director-general of the agency since 1979. The governor's job is being filled on an interim basis by the former governor's deputy, Sheikh Abdulla al-Khalifa, until a permanent successor is appointed.