Kris Babicci

Position: Chief executive officer (CEO), Bank Dhofar

Biography: Kris Babicci became CEO of Bank Dhofar in June 2008, having joined the institution as chief operating officer in October 2007. Since joining the bank, he has overseen an IT upgrade in line with other major Omani banks. This included introducing a new customer relationship management system, e-banking and mobile banking. Babicci has also overseen the introduction of a new service for small businesses, which includes overdraft facilities, term loans and advance payment guarantees. In January 2009, the bank announced a 29 per cent profit increase to OR23.68m ($61.49m). Babicci has more than 30 years’ experience in international banking. Before joining Bank Dhofar, he held senior positions at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, and Standard Chartered Bank. Babicci holds an MBA in international business and banking.

Contact Tel: (+968) 2473 7865

Abdul Razak Ali Issa

Position: CEO, BankMuscat

Biography: Abdul Razak Ali Issa was appointed CEO of the largest bank in Oman, BankMuscat, in 1994. Under Issa, the bank has con-solidated its lead in the local market, announcing an 11 per cent year on year increase in net profit to OR93.7m for the whole of 2008. In January 2008, Issa announced the launch of a banking service aimed at the 600,000 expatriate Indians currently working in Oman. One of Issa’s responsibilities is to further strengthen the bank’s Asian business links. The bank already holds a strategic stake in Centurion Bank of Punjab and has a further 43 per cent holding in Indian securities house Mangal Keshav Group. In early 2008, it acquired 35 per cent of Saudi Pak Commercial Bank, a deal that was led by Issa, to enter the high-growth Pakistan banking sector. Issa also sits on the board of the Asian Bankers Association.

Contact Tel: (+968) 2476 8888

Murray Sims

Position: CEO, National Bank of Oman (NBO)

Biography: Murray Sims joined NBO as CEO in April 2008 from National Bank of Ras al-Khaimah, where he had spent 12 years. He initially joined NBO to set up the institution’s corporate banking division, and managed its branches in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Kalba and Ras al-Khaimah. He was promoted to head of personal banking in 2000, and oversaw a period of physical expansion and profit growth for the bank. Sims has more than 30 years’ corporate and retail banking experience. He started his career in the financial industry in 1978 at Midland Bank in the UK, before moving to Standard Chartered Bank in 1985, where he served for 11 years at branches in Brunei, South Africa, Bahrain and Oman. While in Bahrain, Sims was a lecturer at the Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance. He holds an MBA from Henley Management
College in the UK.

Contact Tel: (+968) 2481 1711

Rashad bin Mohamed al-Zubair

Position: Chairman, Oman Arab Bank (OAB)

Biography: Rashad bin Mohamed al-Zubair has led OAB through the global financial crisis, focusing on prudent financial management of the institution’s assets. He has led the bank’s IT upgrade, to offer customers SMS-based mobile banking, which has led to cost savings on customer service and increased 2008 net profits by 4.2 per cent to OR116.7m. Al-Zubair is the son of Mohamed al-Zubair, chairman of Oman’s Zubair Corporation, one of the sultanate’s largest companies. He is one of seven children. He started his career working in various divisions of the family-owned corporation before opting for a career in banking. Al-Zubair is vice-chairman and a member of the executive committee of Oman International Development & Investment Company (Ominvest), the principal shareholder of OAB, with a 51 per cent stake, together with Arab Bank, which has a 49 per cent stake.

Contact Tel: (+968) 2481 6966

Reem bint Omar al-Zawawi

Position: Chairwoman, Oman International Bank (OIB)

Biography: As the first female to lead an Omani corporation, and head of an otherwise all-male board of directors, Reem bint Omar al-Zaw-awi’s performance is closely scrutinised by the sultanate’s banking community. She has served as a member of the bank’s board since 1996 and was deputy chairwoman before her appointment as chairwoman in 2002. She has won numerous awards for her leadership of the bank, including the Arab Women Award 2006. Al-Zawawi is the daughter of the bank’s founder, Omar bin Abdul Muneim al-Zawawi, who was special adviser for external liaison to Sultan Qaboos. Her father, a Harvard-educated doctor who is reported to be the second-wealthiest man in Oman after the sultan, founded the bank in 1984 as the first 100 per cent Omani-owned commercial bank. He is also president of Omani Omzest Group, which represents German car group Daimler.

Contact Tel: (+968) 2471 3311

Hamoud bin Sangour al-Zadjali

Position: Executive president, Central Bank of Oman (CBO)

Biography: In January 2009, Hamoud bin Sangour al-Zadjali told the official Oman News Agency that the Omani banking sector’s strength meant that the current global financial crisis had not had an impact on the country. Under Al-Zadjali’s leadership, the bank has followed a set of conservative lending policies, not allowing banks operating in the sultanate to borrow large amounts in foreign currency to finance their operations, and not allowing capital flows for speculative investments. Al-Zadjali has led an overhaul of the bank’s IT system, working with US technology company IBM since 2005 to implement new systems for the institution to speed up payments between banks. In 2006, Al-Zadjali opted to implement an automatic clearing house system at the central bank to bulk-process electronic credit and debit transfers.

Contact Tel: (+968) 2477 7777