Al Qassim to handover NBB CEO reins to Durand

Manama : National Bank of Bahrain (NBB)’s CEO and director Abdul Razak Abdulhassan Al Qassim has retired from his position, it was announced.

NBB chairman Farouk Almoayyed said the board of directors have accepted Mr Al Qassim’s decision. He will however continue to be an advisor to the newly appointed CEO, until the end of December 2016.

The directorial board thanked Mr Al Qassim ‘for his exemplary stewardship of the NBB and the contribution he has made over the years to make NBB a premier financial institution in the region.’ They also highlighted the expertise and dexterity with which Mr Al Qassim managed the bank during the extremely challenging environment since 2008. The board wished him all the very best in his future endeavours.

Meanwhile Jean- Christophe Durand has been appointed to take his place, effective December 1, 2016.

Mr Durand is a Bahraini who graduated from Ecole Superieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (ESSEC), French Business School in Paris and has over 36 years of Banking & Finance experience. He was the Global Head of the BNP MEA (Middle East & Africa) region for Corporate and Institutional Banking for over five years before taking up his last assignment as Advisor to the CEO

of Mumtalakat. Mr Durand has spent a significant number of years in Bahrain working with BNP to grow their business locally and regionally and is credited with establishing it as one of the key financial institution in the region.

Mr Durand has been on the board of several key committees and is also a recipient of the “Legion d’Honneur (Grade of Officer)” from the French government.