The Board

Adel is the Non-executive Chairman of the Board of BLME Holdings plc. He has over 30 years of experience in banking. He is currently Chief Executive Officer and Vice-Chairman of the Company’s owner...

Adel is the Non-executive Chairman of the Board of BLME Holdings plc. He has over 30 years of experience in banking. He is currently Chief Executive Officer and Vice-Chairman of the Company’s owner group, Boubyan Bank K.S.C.P, having previously held the position of Chairman. From 1980 to 2009 Adel worked for National Bank of Kuwait where he held a number of positions including Deputy Chief Executive Officer and General Manager. Adel is currently the Chairman of Kuwait Banking Association.

Giles Cunningham joined the Group in October 2016 having previously served as Chief Executive Officer, International at Qatar Islamic Bank in Doha. Prior to that appointment Giles was Group Chief E...

Giles Cunningham joined the Group in October 2016 having previously served as Chief Executive Officer, International at Qatar Islamic Bank in Doha. Prior to that appointment Giles was Group Chief Executive Officer of The Zubair Corporation from 2008 until 2011. He started his career at Kleinwort Benson, the investment bank, before moving to Lloyds Banking Group where he spent 17 years. Giles held a number of senior roles with Lloyds, both in the UK and internationally. This included two years as Head of Finance & Strategy in Lloyds Banking Group, Brazil and three years as the Bank's Middle East Chief Executive Officer, based in Dubai. Most recently he was based in London and responsible for the Lloyds International strategy and business, including a role as International Transformation Director, leading the Bank’s international disposals and reorganisation. Giles is a mathematics graduate, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, holds an MBA and is an active Harvard Business School alumnus.

Chris joined the Group in September 2015. He graduated from the London School of Economics and holds an MBA. He qualified as a chartered accountant at Deloitte in London in 1986 and became an FCA a...

Chris joined the Group in September 2015. He graduated from the London School of Economics and holds an MBA. He qualified as a chartered accountant at Deloitte in London in 1986 and became an FCA and progressed to become a Senior Manager heading up the Hong Kong Banking and Securities Group of Deloitte. Chris joined the ABN Amro Group in 1994, heading the Corporate Control and Compliance function for Asia before becoming joint CFO/COO of the listed Bank in Asia. In 2004, Chris became a Corporate Executive Vice President of ABN Amro’s Top Executive Group heading up the control function for South America based in Brazil. In 2008 he joined CLS Group Holdings AG (the world’s foreign exchange settlement utility) as the Chief Financial Officer and in 2010 was the Group Finance Director of the Board.

As well as being the Senior Independent Director of BLME Holdings plc, Michael Williams is also the Chairman of the Nominations Committee. As Senior Independent Director Michael chaired the Indepen...

As well as being the Senior Independent Director of BLME Holdings plc, Michael Williams is also the Chairman of the Nominations Committee. As Senior Independent Director Michael chaired the Independent Board of Directors during the period leading up to the recent successful takeover offer from Boubyan Bank. He joined the Group in 2012 and held positions including Chairman of the Nominations Committee and of the Risk Committee prior to being appointed Chief Executive Officer on an interim basis between May 2015 and March 2016. He is a qualified banker with an extensive background in international finance. He has held a number of senior and board level positions in the UK and in the Middle East. Prior to joining the Board of the Company, he was Chief Executive Officer of the International Bank of Qatar in Doha before which he was in Dubai as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Bank of Fujairah, having previously been the Managing Director of Nomura Bank International Plc for 6 years. Michael started his career with Barclays Bank Group working for them for 25 years holding a number of senior positions including Managing Director of Barclays Global Services and Corporate Banking Director at Barclays Bank PLC.

David Williams joined the Group in October 2015 as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Risk Committee. He is a senior credit risk professional with 28 years of experience in i...

David Williams joined the Group in October 2015 as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Risk Committee. He is a senior credit risk professional with 28 years of experience in international banking operating at executive and board level in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Over a career with Barclays PLC his executive roles included Wholesale Credit Risk Director of the Barclays Group and Chief Credit Officer at Barclays Capital. David was a Non- 7 executive Board Director of LCH Clearnet Group Ltd. David is a former British Army officer and is currently Chairman of veterans charity Haig Housing Trust and Deputy Chairman of Care for Veterans.

Jabra Ghandour is a Non-executive Board member of BLME Holdings plc having previously served as Chief Executive Officer between March and November 2016. He has more than 30 years of experience in F...

Jabra Ghandour is a Non-executive Board member of BLME Holdings plc having previously served as Chief Executive Officer between March and November 2016. He has more than 30 years of experience in Financial Services. He is currently Chief Executive Officer of Boubyan Capital Investment Company, a subsidiary of the Company’s largest shareholder, Boubyan Bank K.S.C.P. Before joining the Group he was the Managing Director and Board member of International Bank of Qatar. Jabra began his career at Cairo Amman Bank where he was Head of Treasury before moving to Union Bank as Executive Manager responsible for Treasury and Financial Institutions. Jabra joined Jordan National Bank (Ahli Bank) in 1994 as Assistant General Manager followed by four years at Merrill Lynch (Jordan) as General Manager. From 2002 to 2012 he worked at National Bank of Kuwait holding several senior positions including General Manager, Jordan and Head of Private Banking. Jabra has played a key role in developing and growing market leading banks. He is also an independent Board member of Bank of Etihad.

Calum Thomson joined the Board of BLME Holdings plc in April 2017 as Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Risk Committee, Nominations Committee and the Remuneration Committee. He has...

Calum Thomson joined the Board of BLME Holdings plc in April 2017 as Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Risk Committee, Nominations Committee and the Remuneration Committee. He has over 25 years of experience in the Financial Services industry and was at Deloitte LLP for 21 years, specialising in the Financial Services sector. During his career at Deloitte he has led the global and UK asset management groups. Calum qualified as an accountant at EY, from there he went on to work at Lloyds of London's Regulatory Review department. His experience includes clients in the Middle East, Malaysia, UK and the US covering wealth management, private banking, private equity and the General Insurance Markets. Calum is a Non-executive Director and Audit Committee Chair of The Diverse Income Trust plc, AVI Global Trust plc, Baring Emerging Europe plc, Standard Life Private Equity plc and Adam Smith Advisory Group Limited and a Non-executive Director of Schroder Pension Management Ltd and Schroder Unit Trusts Ltd.

Joanne Hindle joined the Board of BLME Holdings plc as an Independent Non-executive Director in July 2018. She chairs the Remuneration Committee and sits on the Audit, Risk and Nominations Committe...

Joanne Hindle joined the Board of BLME Holdings plc as an Independent Non-executive Director in July 2018. She chairs the Remuneration Committee and sits on the Audit, Risk and Nominations Committees. She has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry having held both executive and board level positions. Over her career Joanne has been Corporate Services Director at Unum Limited and Director of Pensions Development at NatWest Life. Amongst her portfolio of non-executive board positions, Joanne is Chairman of Shepherd’s Friendly Society, and until December 2019 was a legal and compliance consultant for AXA Assistance and formerly was Chairman of Holmesdale Building Society.

Bader Abdullah Al Kandari joined the Board of BLME Holdings plc as a Non-executive Director in March 2019. He is an experienced investment professional. He began his career in 2004 at the Kuwait Fu...

Bader Abdullah Al Kandari joined the Board of BLME Holdings plc as a Non-executive Director in March 2019. He is an experienced investment professional. He began his career in 2004 at the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and held a senior position at Al-Mal Investment Company. Bader is currently Chief Investment Officer- Liquid Investments at Kuwait’s Public Institution for Social Security. Prior to this position he was Investment Global Manager at Dimah Capital from 2012 until 2015. Bader has an MBA and also holds a non-executive board position at Wafra International Investment Company, Kuwait.

Maged Fanous joined the Board of BLME Holdings in March 2020. He is a member of the Audit Committee and Board Risk Committee. Maged Fanous is Chief Risk Officer at Boubyan Bank and has over 30 year...

Maged Fanous joined the Board of BLME Holdings in March 2020. He is a member of the Audit Committee and Board Risk Committee. Maged Fanous is Chief Risk Officer at Boubyan Bank and has over 30 years’ experience in risk management and financial regulations. Before joining Boubyan, he was the lead partner of the Risk and Regulatory practices of Ernst & Young in the UK and MENA. Prior to this, he was the lead partner of the Finance and Performance Managed (FPM) of Accenture’s UK/Ireland. Maged holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Cairo University.

Abdul-Salam joined the Board of BLME Holdings plc as a Non-executive Director in June 2020. He is Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Boubyan Bank which he joined in October 2012, and has more than 3...

Abdul-Salam joined the Board of BLME Holdings plc as a Non-executive Director in June 2020. He is Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Boubyan Bank which he joined in October 2012, and has more than 32 years of banking experience. He worked for 18 years at National Bank of Kuwait, where he gained experience in Financial Control and Corporate Banking; and his last position was the head of Domestic Corporate Banking. Prior to joining Boubyan Bank, he worked for over 7 years for National Bank of Abu Dhabi as the Regional Manager of its branch in Kuwait. Abdul-Salam received his bachelor's degree in Finance from Kuwait University, and has attended various executive management development programs over the course of his career.