Arun Hari

KUWAIT: Gulf International Bank (GIB) is pleased to announce that Arun Hari has been appointed as Group Chief Risk Officer as of June 2018. Arun Hari has over 27 years of corporate banking experience in the MENA region, including 20 years with the HSBC Group in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Before joining GIB, he worked as Country Head of Global Banking at the Saudi-British Bank SABB.

"I am pleased that Arun has joined us as the chief of the Group's Risk Management," said GIB Chief Executive Officer Abdulaziz Al-Helaissi. "With his wealth of experience, Arun will greatly contribute to our efforts to develop risk management operations and realize GIB vision."

Commenting on his appointment, Arun Hari said: "The changes we have been seeing in the regional landscape provide GIB with several good opportunities for growth. I am looking forward to working with both the Board, the Executive Leadership team and employees to build a risk culture that will help GIB to strike a balance between prudent risk management & sustainable business growth and respond nimbly to the emerging threats."

Arun holds a BSc in Mathematics from Mahatma Gandhi University in India and an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University in the United States.

GIB was established in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 1975 and commenced operations in 1976. In 2017, GIB became the first foreign domiciled bank to be granted approval from the Saudi Arabia Council of Ministers to establish a local commercial bank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Consequently, GIB's branch offices in the Kingdom will become part of the Saudi Arabian subsidiary, with the country headquarters located in Dhahran.

GIB is owned by the governments of Gulf Cooperation Council countries, with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund being the primary shareholder.

GIB Capital is the investment banking and regional asset management arm of GIB, offering innovative solutions in the fields of asset management, bond and Sukuk issuance, loan syndications, financial restructuring, private placements, private sale, IPOs, underwriting equity and debt, as well as mergers and acquisitions.