Dubai Islamic Bank Reshuffles Management, Appoints New CEO

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest sharia-compliant lender in the emirate, said on Monday it had appointed Adnan Chilwan as chief executive.

Chilwan, who was previously deputy CEO at the bank, replaces Abdullah Al Hamli who was named managing director, the bank said in a bourse filing.

The management reshuffle at DIB comes when the bank is preparing for renewed growth, after it set aside about Dhs5 billion ($1.36 billion) against bad loans following the 2009-2010 crash of Dubai’s real estate market.

In an interview, both Chilwan and Al Hamli told Reuters in May that the bank had dealt with much of its balance sheet weakness and should see profits for 2013 grow in the double digits, allowing it to eye acquisitions in new markets in Asia.

The 38-year-old bank, 30 per cent owned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s Investment Corp of Dubai, reported a 17 per cent increase in its first-quarter net profit.

DIB, which is in the process of acquiring Islamic mortgage lender Tamweel, became the second Gulf bank to issue a hybrid perpetual sukuk when it priced in March a $1 billion Islamic bond to boost its Tier 1 capital ratio.