First Abu Dhabi Bank Hires Two Senior Executives in Latest Shakeup

Zainab Fattah and Nicolas Parasie, Bloomberg News

Signage on the exterior of a First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC branch and office building in the Khubeirah district of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are all pushing to diversify their economies before the fossil-fuel era ends and are well-positioned to take advantage of opportunities opening up, especially as the US and Europe face higher financing costs and China struggles with Covid. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC is hiring two new senior executives in the latest shakeup at the United Arab Emirates’ largest lender.

Eric Shehadeh will succeed Karim Karoui as group head of mergers and acquisitions and corporate development, according to a statement from the lender. Karoui, who is retiring, assumes an advisory role overseeing strategic projects across the group, according to the statement.

Sameh Al Qubaisi, has been appointed group head of global markets, the statement said. He will be responsible for expanding the business regionally and internationally, according to the statement.

Thomas Spitz continues in his current role leading global markets’ operations, reporting directly to Al Qubaisi, who is a former director general of economic affairs at Abu Dhabi’s department of economic development and led a 5 billion dirham ($1.36 billion) IPO fund to spur share sales in Abu Dhabi.

Shehadeh, who joins from My Money Group and previously worked at GE Capital, will support FAB’s regional and international expansion strategy, according to the statement. Martin Tricaud, FAB’s head of investment banking, will continue to oversee the growth and expansion of that business globally.

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This isn’t Al Qubaisi’s first stint at the lender. He led the firm’s wholesale banking division in North East Asia and spent years at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi before the merger that resulted in the creation of FAB, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The bank is replenishing its ranks after the departures of several senior executives following a broad management overhaul since Hana Al Rostamani took over as group chief executive officer in January 2021. Earlier this year, FAB hired Lars Kramer from ABN Amro Bank NV as its chief financial officer.

Formed from the merger of National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank in 2017, FAB is roughly half owned by sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. and members of the emirate’s ruling family.

--With assistance from Archana Narayanan.