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- Board Composition and Appointment of Directors
Clauses 93 to 114 of the Bank's Articles of Association provide for the manner of appointment and retirement of Directors. Directors hold office from the close of the Annual General Meeting at which they are appointed until the end of the consecutive one, at which meeting they become eligible for re-election. The Articles of Association provide that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman are to be appointed by the Directors from amongst their number and shall hold office for a period of one year, unless otherwise decided by a simple majority of the Board. The procedure for election of Directors is governed by the Articles. Any member may nominate an individual in the manner prescribed by the Articles, provided that such nomination is seconded by a member or members who in the aggregate hold at least 20,000 shares between them.
The participation of Directors on Board Committees, as provided for by the Articles, is decided upon by the Board. All such committees include at least one Director.
The current composition of the Board of Directors, is as follows:
Dr. John C. Grech (Chairman)
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Dr John C. Grech is a Maltese National. He graduated from the University of Malta in 1971 and 1974. In 1978 he also obtained a Ph.D. in International Economics from The Graduate Institute for international and Development Studies of the University of Geneva.
He served as Chairman of the Bank of Valletta Group, Middle Sea Valletta Life Assurance Limited, the Malta Tourism Authority, Mizzi Organisation and as President of the Mediterranean Bank Network. He is currently Chairman of the MelitaUnipol Insurance Agency Limited, Chairman of Central Cement Limited and Chairman of the Board of Class Optical Ltd. He also served as visiting professor at the University of Malta.
| Masaud M. J. Hayat (Vice Chairman) |
Mr. Hayat has been appointed as Group Chief Executive Officer of Burgan Bank since April 2019 in addition to his capacity as Vice Chairman of the Board and has been Board Member of Burgan since 2013. Mr. Hayat brings to the Board his extensive experience of 44 years in banking, commercial, investment, and management industries at a local and regional level. Mr. Masoud has attended various professional local and international courses, amongst which is in Leadership & Innovation in Public & Private Sectors at Harvard University in 2004 and a 3 month program in Management and Finance at Wharton Business School – University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia – USA. He started his career in Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait in 1974 where he worked in various fields such as Operations, Local and International Credit until he reached the post of Deputy Chief General Manager and Acting CEO in 1992, and advisor to the Board of Directors until 1996. Mr. Hayat has held key positions and Board memberships in the KIPCO Group since 1997 in banking, telecommunications, investments, and services, including his role as Chief Executive Officer - Banking (2010-2019).
Mr. Masoud M.J. Hayat is the Chairman of United Gulf Holding Co. – Bahrain, United Gulf Bank – Bahrain and Tunis International Bank – Tunis. He is the Vice Chairman of Algeria Gulf Bank – Algeria, Bank of Baghdad – Iraq and FIMBank – Malta. He is also a Board Member of Jordan Kuwait Bank – Jordan, North Africa Holding Co., KAMCO Invest Co., Masharea AlKhair Charity Foundation and United Gulf Financial Services
Mr. Hayat holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Kuwait University and a High Diploma in Banking Sciences from the Institute of Banking Studies, Kuwait.
Rabih Soukarieh is the Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Bank Algerie (AGB), Algeria since August 2015 having held previously various senior executive positions at United Gulf Bank (UGB) in Bahrain including the post of Chief Executive Officer between March 2012 and August 2015. During his ten-year tenure at UGB for the years 2003 until 2004 and 2008 until 2015, Mr. Soukarieh also acted as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Millennium Private Equity in Dubai and Chief Executive Officer of United Gulf Financial Services in Qatar.
Between 2004 and 2007, he occupied the position of Group Chief Financial Officer of Wataniya Telecom Group of companies. He is currently a member of the board of directors of FIMBank Malta, Tunis International Bank and United Gulf Financial Services Company-North Africa, in Tunisia. Mr. Soukarieh has a Master of Business Administration from Northeastern University in Boston and a Bachelor of Sciences in Finance from Indiana University, Bloomington.
Hussain Lalani is the Chief Executive Officer of United Gulf Bank B.S.C (c) - Bahrain His career extends over 27 years. He has worked extensively with the Board of Directors on advisory transactions in his previous capacity as UGB’s Chief Financial Officer and partnered with business divisions to support growth and business plans.
Mr. Lalani was previously employed by Ernst & Young, Bahrain; and Price Waterhouse Coopers, Pakistan. He is a Board Member of United Gulf Financial Services – North Africa, Tunisia; FIMBank plc. – Malta; Assoufid B.V. – Netherlands; London Forfaiting Company – UK and North Africa Holding Company – Kuwait. A Chartered Accountant and a Certified Information Systems Auditor, Mr. Lalani holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Karachi, Pakistan.
Edmond Brincat is a Maltese National. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounts from the University of Malta in 1991 and is a Certified Public Accountant and a Fellow of the Malta Institute of Accountants. After working for a major audit firm, Mr Brincat joined the GO group in 1999, part of the team entrusted to set up and launch Go Mobile, Malta’s second mobile operator and in 2006 he was appointed as the group’s Chief Finance Officer, a position he held until January 2018.
Between 2018 and 2023 Mr Brincat served as the CEO of SmartCity (Malta), a subsidiary of Dubai Holding LLC. Mr. Brincat is a full time licensed Corporate Service Provider.
Mr. Sunny Bhatia has held the position of Group Chief Financial Officer of Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) since April 2022, and as of June 2022 is also a member of the Board of Directors of United Gulf Holding Company.
Mr. Sunny Bhatia is an accomplished financial professional with over thirty years of experience within the financial services industry including investment and asset management, private equity and merchant banking, wholesale and retail banking, and brokerage. Prior to his involvements within Kuwait Projects Company (Holding), and United Gulf Holding Company, Mr. Bhatia held several senior positions including inter alia at NBK Capital, Global Investment House, and the National Bank of Bahrain.
Mr. Bhatia holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Delhi University and is both a Chartered Accountant and Cost and Management Accountant.
Ms. Bakalli has over 20 years of experience in regulated financial markets including fintech, cleantech, asset management, insurance and investment banking. Ms. Bakalli was the chief financial officer of the eCommerce division of WorldPay Inc., and the European chief financial officer of Pepper Europe.
She also held roles at Schroders, Credit Suisse First Boston and Barclays Capital before she joined Willis and Vanguard Europe as a financial director. Ms. Bakalli has resided in the digital economy hotspot of Malta since 2016 where she founded Cleantech360, a company which offers ESG strategy and business consulting to the cleantech industry. As part of her involvement in this sector, she has worked within numerous renewables and sustainability projects, including those which leverage blockchain technology.
Ms. Bakalli sits on several boards and is an ongoing contributor to the ACCA (Global Accounting Body) and is a member of the Global Forum for Sustainability. She was admitted Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant in 2005. Ms. Bakalli presently hold directorships in Cleantech360 Limited and in Galbraith’s Overseas Holdings Limited.
Mr Abbouchi joined KIPCO’s investment team in 2023 to monitor the performance of the holding’s finance and real estate sectors. He has a career spanning 20 years during which he gained significant exposure to the financial sector in Kuwait and the MENA region, with particular emphasis on investment banking. Prior to joining KIPCO, Mr Abbouchi held several positions in Gulf Bank, including Deputy GM - Investment Banking and Head of Strategic Investments. He started his career with Ernst & Young and worked at Global Investment House. Mr Abbouchi holds a BA in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut, an MBA from London Business School and is a CFA Charter holder.
