| 13 Jul 2010 |
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Ithmaar Bank gets new CEO
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Kingdom-based Islamic retail bank, Ithmaar BankIthmaar Bank
announced yesterday the appointment of Mohammed Bucheerei as its new Chief Executive, to guide its transformation into a fully Shariah-compliant lender.Ithmaar BankIthmaar Bank completed in April a comprehensive reorganisation with its then wholly owned subsidiary, Shamil BankShamil Bank, to emerge as a new Islamic retail bank licenced by the Central Bank of Bahrain, completing the transformation from an investment institution into a full retail bank.
Mohamed Hussain, who was the bank's Acting Chief Executive Officer, would continue to serve on the boards of some of its strategic investments, the bank said in a statement yesterday.
"This is an exciting juncture for us and I am privileged to have been invited to lead the bank's day to day operations," said Bucheerei.
"Ithmaar BankIthmaar Bank
heads one of the most diversified financial services groups in the Middle East. It is a formula that has worked exceptionally well for the group, but we cannot afford to get complacent and, following the Ithmaar-ShamilShamil reorganisation, our focus must be on the efficient implementation of the bank's new three-year strategic plan 2010-2012," he said, citing his immediate priorities.Bucheerei was the general manager of the private office of Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammed Al Faisal Al Saud, Chairman of Ithmaar's major shareholder DMI Trust, which owns about 40 per cent of the bank. The Trust provided $90 million of the $103 million capital rise exercise Ithmaar conducted in March.
He currently also serves on the Board of Directors of the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (Bahamas) Limited, Faysal Bank Limited (Pakistan), the Overland Capital Group (USA) and Solidarity Group (Bahrain)," he said.
"Mohammed Bucheerei has been a close, long-time associate of the group. In addition to his intimate understanding of the group's global operations, he also brings in a wealth of international and much diversified banking experience to his new assignment," said Mohammed Al Faisal Al Saud.
He also thanked Mohamed Hussain for his contributions to the bank's success story and guiding it through the recent global financial crisis.
On its transformation into an Islamic retail-focused bank, Ithmaar said in April it would work on developing its retail operations by expanding its products and services range as well as its delivery channels. As part of its new strategic plan, the bank also said it will work on expanding its geographical reach across the Gulf Cooperation Council region by offering a wide range of corporate banking services.
In the middle of the transformation process, Ithmaar last month said there were no disagreements between the bank's management team and its Sharia Board over the conversion of its conventional assets into Islamic assets.
"It is virtually impossible to convert conventional assets into sharia-compliant assets overnight. Such conversions, at Ithmaar as at any other financial institution anywhere in the world, require time to implement. Furthermore, both the processes and the timelines of this conversion are approved both by our sharia board and by the CBB," said the then Acting Chief Executive, Mohamed Hussain.
The bank has a paid-up capital of $701 million, total equity of $1 billion and its flagship subsidiaries and associates include Faysal Bank Limited (Pakistan), Faisal Private Bank (Switzerland), Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions, Ithmaar Development Company Limited, Bahrain based, BBK, First Leasing Bank, Solidarity, an Islamic insurance company, Ithraa Capital (Saudi Arabia) and Naseej (Bahrain).
By K.V.S Madhav
© Bahrain Tribune 2010
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