Michael Tomalin, group chief executive of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has been honoured with the Arab Bankers Association (ABA) Banker of the Year award.

Arab Bankers Association, founded in 1980 in London, represents and promotes the interests of Arab banks and financial professionals who work with Arab banks. This is particularly important with the very strong and significant banking and trade links between the UK and the Arab world.

NBAD launched its London branch in 1977. It provides private banking, trade finance, corporate banking, and treasury products.

“The National Bank of Abu Dhabi is a strong brand and an exemplary institution; an institution that is the highest ranked Middle East bank in the World’s 50 Safest Banks list and growing,” said George Kanaan, chief executive officer of Arab Bankers Association.

“NBAD continues to expand globally with presence from Hong Kong to North America; obviously, given this profile, we found it appropriate to select Michael Tomalin as the first recipient of our distinguished service award as this extraordinary growth took place under his watch.”

In accepting the very first award for distinguished service by the ABA, Tomalin spoke of the need for Arab banks to play a larger role on the global financial stage especially with the decline of traditional European banks. He also emphasised the strong links between London and Arab banking. – TradeArabia News Service