Bahrain-headquartered Arab Banking Corporation has revamped its group management structure in line with its regional strategy growth strategy.
 
ABC Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) Dr Khaled Kawan said the move is aimed at accelerating the group’s transformation towards realising its ambition of becoming the leading universal bank in the Mena region.

The ABC board of directors meeting approved a significant re-alignment of group-level senior management responsibilities and also announced the appointment of two new executive vice presidents Ray Ferguson and Sael Al Waary.

Ferguson, who brings with him a 28 year rich career with Standard Chartered, will be appointed to the new position of executive VP and Group Chief Banking Officer (GCBO), based in Bahrain.

In his new role, Ferguson will oversee ABC’s global banking business, which is represented by its five global businesses: Group corporate and structured finance, trade finance, treasury, Islamic banking and retail.

He will join the Bahrain-listed banking group in the second quarter following completion of his notice period with his current employer, said a statement from ABC.

At ABC, Ferguson will be responsible for providing overall leadership and delivering planned growth across all of ABC’s banking businesses in its existing Group geographies.

In addition, he will work with the senior management team within ABC on executing its geographic expansion plans within the region and across key Mena trade and investment corridors in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Al Waary is currently the senior VP and Group COO and will be elevated to the post of executive VP with an expanded role as Group COO.  His appointment is with immediate effect, the statement added.

Besides his current responsibilities for Group-wide operations, Al Waary will take on additional responsibilities for overseeing all Group human resources, regulatory, compliance, legal affairs, expenses management, and operational and administrative functions in all geographical locations where the ABC Group is present.

Al Waary, who joined the ABC Group in 1981, brings with him more than 33 years of banking, leadership and management experience. He has held many senior positions in both London and Bahrain and was appointed as GCOO in 2006.

He is also the deputy chairman of Arab Banking Corporation (Jordan) and Arab Financial Services Company and has previously served on the Boards of Banco ABC Brasil and Arab Banking Corporation- Egypt.

Both Ferguson and Al Waary will report to the Group CEO. Also, the functions of Group finance, credit & risk management and internal audit will continue to report to the GCEO, said the ABC in its statement.  

Under the new organisational structure, the CEO of the subsidiaries will have dual reporting lines to the GCOO and the GCBO, it added.  

On the recent re-alignment, Dr Kawan expressed delight at having attracted someone of Ray’s calibre and experience to be part of the ABC team.

"ABC has a clear and focused strategy in place. These changes to our organisational structure, with the addition of Ray, and the increased responsibility for Sael, will add momentum to our transformation journey and help us to improve performance and provide a superior client experience across our network," he added.-TradeArabia News Service