NBAD chief steps aside ahead of merger

Merger1Alex Thursby, chief executive of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), is stepping down a month after the bank agreed a merger deal with First Gulf Bank to create a regional giant.

Abhijit Choudhury, chief risk officer at NBAD, will serve as acting chief executive and lead the bank through the integration planning process, according to Nasser Al Sowaidi, chairman of NBAD.

Khalifa Sultan Al Sowaidi, a member of the board at NBAD, will take on the new role of managing director to support the integration process, said the statement.

Scheduled to occur in the first quarter of 2017, the merger of NBAD and First Gulf Bank is expected to create the largest bank in the Middle East and North Africa with assets of $175 billion and a presence in 19 markets outside its home country.

According to the statement announcing the merger last month, Abdulhamid M Saeed, managing director of First Gulf Bank, will become chief executive once the companies are merged.

Thursby had held the role of chief executive at NBAD for more than three years.

©2016 funds global MENA

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