Dubai, UAE, 24 April 2014: HBL, which currently has seven branches across the UAE, has named Ahmed Farooq as its new Head of Retail Banking - Gulf.

Mr. Farooq has been tasked with spearheading the retail business across the Gulf Region. Prior to this appointment, he served as Head of Retail & SME - HBL, Oman.

A seasoned commercial banker with extensive experience in institutional and retail banking across the Middle East and Asia, he was instrumental in the launching of retail products as a founding member of Noor Bank (then known as Noor Islamic Bank). During his career, Farooq has held senior positions with a variety of multinational financial institutions, including Al Rajhi Bank and Standard Chartered.

"We are pleased that Farooq has taken up this important role. He brings with him more than 22 years of expertise in the financial services industry, with rich experience in strategic planning, operating businesses, managing change, product development and project management. All of these attributes will be vital to HBL moving forward," remarked Abbas Hasan, Regional General Manager - Gulf at HBL.

HBL, amongst one of the first foreign banks to open a branch in the UAE, has been providing retail, corporate and private banking solutions to customers for 47 years.

In addition to its strong presence across the Gulf region, HBL has a global network with 48 branches in 25 countries around the world.

ABOUT HBL UAE
HBL UAE (Habib Bank Limited) is the largest bank in Pakistan and in 1967 became one of the first foreign banks to open a branch in UAE. Since then, they have provided a wide range of personal, corporate and private financial products and services to customers through their branches in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Sharjah.

Overall, HBL has a domestic branch network of more than 1,500, with an additional 48 outlets worldwide in 25 countries including Belgium, France, Netherlands, Oman, Singapore, Turkey, UK and USA.

For more information on their range of solutions, please call 600 522 228, send an email to help@hbl.ae, or visit www.hbl.ae.

For media enquiries please contact:
Elsa Roodt
elsa@dpq,ae
+971 50 450 2969

© Press Release 2014