Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz al-Sabah

Position: Governor, Central Bank of Kuwait
Biography: Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz al-Sabah, governor and chairman of the board of directors at the Central Bank of Kuwait since 1986, is playing a key role in national efforts to contain the impact of the global financial crisis. In October 2008, at the request of the government, Al-Sabah set up a taskforce that is trying to plot a strategy for reversing the slump in confidence that threatens to undermine the government’s efforts to expand the role of the private sector. The governor, a member of the Al-Sabah ruling family of Kuwait, has said that the state needs to introduce bankruptcy protection legislation and other measures to facilitate mergers. Al-Sabah is a council member of the Kuala Lumpur-based Islamic Financial Services Board and chairman of the Kuwait-based Institute of Banking Studies. He is a graduate of the American University of Beirut.
Contact Tel: (+965) 2244 9200

Ibrahim Dabdoub

Position: Chief executive officer (CEO), National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)
Biography: Ibrahim Dabdoub has been CEO of Kuwait’s largest commercial bank since 1983. He joined the institution in 1961, was promoted to head of credit in 1969, and served as deputy CEO until 1983. Dabdoub was educated at the College des Freres in Bethlehem, the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, and at Stanford University in the US. He is a board member of institutions including the International Institute of Finance (IIF) in Washington DC. He is also an executive committee member of the Arab Business Council of the World Economic Forum. Dabdoub is chairman of many of NBK’s international subsidiaries including National Bank of Kuwait Investment Management, formed in London. Dabdoub oversaw NBK’s acquisition of a 98.1 per cent stake in Al-Watany Bank of Egypt and a 30 per cent stake in International Bank of Qatar.
Contact Tel: (+965) 2242 2011

Qutaiba al-Ghanim

Position: Chairman, Gulf Bank
Biography: Qutaiba al-Ghanim was appointed chairman of Gulf Bank in October 2008 following the resignation of his brother, Bassam al-Ghanim, who stepped down after the bank suffered losses from derivatives trading and the Central Bank of Kuwait stepped in to support the lender. Al-Ghanim, who is also managing director of the bank, has an estimated fortune of $1.6bn. Al-Ghanim built his fortune with family company the Alghanim Group, a multinational conglomerate with 11 divisions including aviation, investment and shipping that started as a small trading company in the 1960s. Al-Ghanim is chairman of the group’s car services company, which serves as a distributor for General Motors in Kuwait. He is also a founder of the Kuwait Heart Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to support the treatment and prevention of heart diseases among children and adults.
Contact Tel: (+965) 2244 5366

Jamal Abdul Hameed al-Mutawa

Position: Chief general manager and CEO, Commercial Bank of Kuwait
Biography: Jamal Abdul Hameed al-Mutawa has been in the spotlight over the past month, following the appointment of Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) to advise Kuwait’s Global Investment House on the renegotiation of its credit facilities. Al-Mutawa has overseen a period of expansion for CBK. The group has complemented its 53-branch domestic network with expansion into Iraq in 2006, and has taken stakes in financial services companies in Syria and Bahrain over the past 12 months. Al-Mutawa is a member of the board of the Islamic Banking & Insurance Institute in Kuwait, and this year was promoted to the position of chairman of the board of the National Ranges Company, a Kuwaiti property development firm that has several projects on prime Abu Dhabi development Al-Reem Island.
Contact Tel: (+961) 2241 6672

Ali Hilal al-Mutairi

Position: Deputy chairman and managing director, Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait
Biography: Ali Hilal al-Mutairi joined Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK) in 2001 with a mission to attract the best financial talent the emirate has to offer. Since joining in 2001, Al-Mutairi has overseen a near eight-fold increase in profits. He was re-elected to ABK’s board of directors in 2007. Al-Mutairi was responsible for the 2007 launch of operations at new investment management and advisory arm Ahli Capital Investment Company, of which he is chairman. Al-Mutairi sits on the board of the Kuwait-based Institute of Banking Studies and is a Kuwait representative for the Beirut-based Union of Arab Banks. He is also first vice-president of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce & Industry, an influential group of the state’s leading businessmen. In 2008, Al-Mutair accused the government of paralysing development projects by failing to support the private sector through new legislation.
Contact Tel: (+961) 2240 0900

Jonathan Lyon

Position: CEO, Burgan Bank
Biography: Jonathan Lyon is CEO and general manager of Burgan Bank. The US citizen joined the bank in May 2004 with the brief of taking the bank to its next stage of development. Under Lyon’s leadership, Burgan Bank, formed in 1977 as an offshoot of the Kuwait Projects Company (Kipco), has embarked on an aggressive drive for expansion into a more diverse range of Middle East countries, part funded by a KD200m capital increase. In 2008, it announced its first venture into foreign markets - a $725m acquisition from United Gulf Bank of operations in Iraq, Algeria, Jordan and Tunisia. With 30 years’ experience, Lyon has previously worked for the eurozone’s largest bank, BNP Paribas (BNPP). He first joined BNPP Hong Kong in 1976 and has held several senior country posts in Singapore, Malaysia, Brazil and Greece, and most recently in India, where he was BNPP’s country head.
Contact Tel: (+965) 2298 8087