Global hires drive change at Mashreq Bank

Ahmed Abdelaal is the first non-Ghurair family member to lead Mashreq Bank. His first two Covid-marred years in charge as chief executive were a baptism of fire, but he has hired well and decisively, putting in place a cosmopolitan management team that is transforming the Dubai-based lender.

When Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair asked Ahmed Abdelaal take the reins as chief executive of Dubai-based Mashreq Bank in October 2019, he had a piece of advice for his successor.

“His message was simple: ‘Don’t mess this up,’” Abdelaal tells Euromoney.

It was blunt, but with good reason. This was not because Ghurair, who then moved upstairs to become chairman, was in any doubt about his choice of candidate.

Abdelaal was not a new face.

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