Owner of Abu Dhabi’s Al Hilal Bank appoints chairman and CEO

Abu Dhabi Islamic lender Al Hilal Bank said on Sunday that its owner, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, had appointed Ala’a Eraiqat as the bank’s chairman.

Eraiqat is currently group chief executive of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), which is expected to merge with Al Hilal Bank and Union National Bank (UNB) in the first half of 2019.

Eraiqat will serve as chairman at Al Hilal in addition to his current role at ADCB.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Council, a sovereign wealth fund which combined with Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala last year, also appointed Amr Saad Al Menhali as chief executive of Al Hilal Bank.

ADCB and UNB confirmed plans in January to merge and together acquire Al Hilal Bank to create the country’s third largest lender.

The new banking group will carry the ADCB identity and will continue to have institutional backing from its biggest stakeholder – the Abu Dhabi government, a statement said.

Al Hilal Bank will retain its existing name and brand and operate as a separate Islamic banking entity within the group.

Following the merger, ADCB will become the fifth largest bank in the GCC region, with assets of Dhs420bn ($114bn). It is expected to have around one million customers.