First Abu Dhabi Bank plans major restructuring

Wam

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is planning to split its operations into four new divisions in a bid to strengthen its business in the Gulf and boost shareholder returns, two sources familiar with the matter said.

As part of the reorganisation, FAB is to hire Citi dealmaking veteran Linos Lekkas as its new head of investment banking, the sources said.

The restructuring at the UAE’s biggest bank by assets is the latest move by CEO Hana Al Rostamani as she tries to foster faster growth at the lender and follows a number of senior management departures in recent years.

FAB declined to comment, while Lekkas was not immediately available for comment.

The four new divisions, formed from a current five, will be: investment banking and markets; wholesale banking; international banking; and personal wealth and business banking.

Martin Tricaud, the current investment banking head, will move to lead wholesale banking, the sources said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak with media.

Bloomberg first reported the bank’s reorganisation plans, citing a memo to staff.

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FAB, headed by Al Rostamani since 2021, has seen a series of senior management departures. In January, Reuters reported that its head of global markets, Sameh Al Qubaisi, and its chief operating officer, Suhail Bin Tarraf, were set to leave the lender.

The bank’s head of mergers and acquisitions and corporate development, Eric Shehadeh, who was hired in mid-2023, left after less than a year in the job.

FAB has been seeking to expand including outside of the Gulf. Two years ago it said it had considered a bid for London-listed Standard Chartered.