Six heads of Islamic banks based in the UAE: Giel-Jan Van Der Tol, Hussain al-Qemzi, Tirad Mahmoud, Mohamed Abdalla, Abdulla al-Hamli and Ebrahim al-Shamsi
Giel-Jan Van Der Tol
POSITION Chief executive, Dubai Bank
BIOGRAPHY Van Der Tol was appointed chief executive of Dubai Bank in April 2010, bringing with him more than 23 years of banking experience. He has in-depth experience in both the corporate and retail divisions within Islamic banking. Prior to his current position, Van Der Tol was managing director of Tier One Capital, Netherlands. Before that, he worked with Holland’s ABN Amro for over 22 years. Among the other senior positions that he has held, Van Der Tol was chief executive and managing director of Saudi Hollandi Bank and country operations head for ABN Amro in Pakistan. He has banking experience in countries ranging from Indonesia to Ecuador, the US and Lebanon. He has a master’s degree in international management from the American Graduate School of International Management, Arizona in the US, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Nyenrode Business Universiteit, Netherlands.
CONTACT Tel: (+971) 4 283 4038
Hussain al-Qemzi
POSITION Chief executive, Noor Islamic Bank
BIOGRAPHY Al-Qemzi has more than 26 years’ experience in senior positions with leading financial institutions in the UAE. Prior to joining the Noor group, he was chief executive of Sharjah Islamic Bank. He also served as chief operating officer of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and is credited with laying much of the groundwork for its development. He is a former board member of the Dubai Financial Market and Nasdaq Dubai. Al-Qemzi sits on the board of the Emirates Institute for Banking & Financial Studies, the DIFC Authority, Emaar Properties and Emirates Media. Noor Islamic Bank is a subsidiary of Dubai-headquartered Noor Investment Group. It was established in 2007 as a fully sharia-compliant commercial bank with a paid-up capital of $860m. The bank is 55 per cent owned by the government or government-related entities, with the remainder divided among 15 individual shareholders.
CONTACT Tel: (+971) 4 361 3598
Tirad Mahmoud
POSITION Chief executive, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB)
BIOGRAPHY Tirad Mahmoud was appointed chief executive of ADIB in March 2008. In this role, he oversees the UAE’s second largest Islamic bank, with assets of $18.6bn as at the end of June 2010. Mahmoud has more than 25 years of experience in the banking industry. Prior to joining ADIB, he was general manager and head of corporate and investment banking at Saudi Arabia’s Samba Financial Group, formerly Saudi American Bank, from 2004 to 2007. He also held various leadership positions during his 22 years with the US’ Citigroup, including chief executive of Citibank Romania and Citibank Slovakia, as well as the regional credit director for Citibank North Africa between 1998 and 2000. A Qatari citizen, Mahmoud holds a bachelor’s of commerce degree with a major in corporate finance from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
CONTACT Tel: (+971) 2 610 0600
Mohamed Abdalla
POSITION Chief executive, Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB)
BIOGRAPHY Mohamed Abdalla joined SIB in 1984 and held many senior positions before being appointed chief executive in November 2006. As the emirate’s largest lender, SIB ranks among the UAE’s leading financial institutions. Abdalla has been instrumental to SIB’s development and was part of the team that oversaw its transformation - the world’s first - from a conventional to an Islamic lender in 2002. Abdalla has been credited with striking a healthy balance between traditional finance and a commitment to modernising where appropriate. He is a member of the board of trustees of Sharjah University and sits on the board of the government-owned Al-Qassimi Hospital, as well as the Ruwad organisation, which supports local small medium entreprises. Abdalla is also a board member and financial manager of the UAE’s Handicapped Guardian’s Association.
CONTACT Tel: (+971) 4 329 8996
Abdulla al-Hamli
POSITION Chief executive, Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB)
BIOGRAPHY Al-Hamli was appointed chief executive of DIB in September 2008. He joined the bank in 1999 and previously served as head of operations and information technology. Established in 1975, DIB is one of the world’s first fully-fledged Islamic banks. Prior to joining DIB, Al-Hamli held several senior positions in public and private-sector organisations in Dubai over a period spanning close to 30 years. This includes 11 years as director of information systems at Dubai Ports Authority and Jebel Ali Free Zone, where his key accomplishments included the merger of Port Rashid with Jebel Ali. Al-Hamli has a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from Al-Ain University in the UAE. He also serves as chairman of the board of directors of UAE real-estate developer Deyaar, which used to be the property management unit of DIB.
CONTACT Tel: (+971) 4 295 3000
Ebrahim al-Shamsi
POSITION Chief executive, Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB)
BIOGRAPHY Al-Shamsi is chief executive of Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB) and has more than 37 years of experience in the financial services industry and the government. Before joining EIB, he was director of the Arab Fund for Econ-omic & Social Development, Kuwait, and has been a director of Bahrain’s Al-Baraka Banking Group since August 2006. Between 1972 and 1976, he was director of financial affairs at the UAE’s Ministry of Housing & Town Planning and was assistant director general of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Arab Economic Development from 1976 to 1988. From 1990 to 2001, Al-Shamsi was chairman of Emirates Modern Poultry Company in Dubai. Between 1998 and 2002, he was director and board member of Dubai Islamic Bank. EIB is 99.9 per cent owned by Emirates NBD, the GCC’s largest bank, with assets of AED284.2bn ($77.4bn) as at 30 September 2010.
CONTACT Tel: (+971) 4 316 0101
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