About us

About us

Our bridge to MENA proposition is focused on supporting clients wherever in Europe and the MENA region you live, work or do business.

Clients of Europe Arab Bank benefit from being part of a leading regional banking group with a long history of service, a global network and a presence in key financial markets and centres.

Traditional values


We combine traditional values with a progressive, international outlook. We are proud to have served high net worth individuals, entrepreneurs, families, corporations and institutions for generations.

Responsible corporate citizens


Our people are respectful, considerate and responsible corporate citizens who aim to make a positive contribution to the communities in which we work and do business.

OUR PEOPLE

Europe Arab Bank Board of Directors

Nemeh Sabbagh photo

Nemeh Sabbagh
Chairman

Nemeh Sabbagh served as Chief Executive Officer of Arab Bank from 2010 until 2022. From January 2006 until December 2009, he was the Executive General Manager and Board Member of BankMed in Lebanon. Previously, he was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Arab National Bank in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and before that with National Bank of Kuwait, the Industrial Bank of Kuwait, First Chicago in Chicago, and the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

Nemeh has an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago, an MA in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University and completed his undergraduate studies (BA) in Economics and French at Austin College in Texas and at L'Institut d'Études Politiques in Paris. He is also an alumnus of Stanford University where he completed the Senior Executive Program at the Graduate School of Business.

Haytham Kamhiyah photo

Haytham Kamhiyah
Chief Executive Officer

Haytham Kamhiyah was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Europe Arab Bank plc in December 2018. He brings over 30 years of experience in the Banking industry with specific focus on the MENA region. He started his career with Arthur Andersen in the audit and business advisory division before joining the Capital Bank of Jordan in 1996, where he became General Manager in May 2005.

Haytham held the position of CEO with Emirates Development Bank in the UAE, Jordan International Investment Group, Ithmar Islamic Finance Company, Jordan International Insurance Company, and Safwa Islamic Bank.

Haytham holds professional qualifications from the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA) and from the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in the United States. In 2005, he obtained the Advanced Management Program Diploma from the INSEAD Business School.

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Eric Modave
Non-Executive Director

Eric Modave is Chief Operating Officer at Arab Bank, a position he has held since July 2014. He was appointed Non-Executive Director, Europe Arab Bank in April 2016. Before joining Arab Bank, Eric was Chief Operating Officer of Barclays Africa. Previously, he was Head of Global Payment Operations at Barclays, in London and held various positions at Citibank, including Head of Consumer Bank, Citibank EMEA, Head of Operations and Technology, Citibank International Personal Banking, and Chief Financial Officer, Citibank International Personal Banking.

Eric graduated as a commercial engineer from HEC University of Liège in 1989 and became a Certified Chartered Accountant in 1996. He completed the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD Business School, Fontainebleau, in 2014.

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John Kerr
Independent Non-Executive Director

John Kerr was appointed Independent Non-Executive Director of Europe Arab Bank in April 2021. John is also a member of the Bank's Board Audit & Risk Committee and Nomination & Remuneration Committee. He is an experienced senior banker with a career spent predominantly in operations, risk management, audit and general management at Midland Bank/HSBC and other international banks operating in the UK, heading their audit and/or compliance functions, among other roles. He has held non-executive director positions and chaired the board audit committees of other international banks.

John is a BA honours graduate and MBA.

Mohammad Shoaib Memon photo

Mohammad Shoaib Memon
Chief Operating Officer

Mohammad Shoaib Memon has held successive senior positions within the industry with more than 20 years’ experience. He started his career with KPMG in 2000 followed by three years at Ernst & Young. He joined EAB in 2007 and has been managing diverse teams including business strategy, finance, operations, trade services, transformation, information technology and marketing.

Mohammad Shoaib is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and ACCA. He has also attended executive education courses at the Harvard Business School and Said Business School, University of Oxford.

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Quentin Aylward
Independent Non-Executive Director

Quentin Aylward was appointed Independent Non-Executive Director of Europe Arab Bank in February 2017. Quentin supports the governance and risk management of the business. He is Chairman of the Bank's Board Audit & Risk Committee and a member of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee. Quentin is a career banker with extensive experience in domestic, corporate finance and international banking gained at HSBC.

Quentin is an Associate of The Chartered Institute of Bankers.

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Saleem Shadeed
Non-Executive Director

Saleem Shadeed was appointed Non-Executive Director of EAB Plc in October 2021. He is currently Non-Executive Director on the board of Arab Bank Australia, and SVP Senior Credit Officer at Arab Bank Plc. Saleem brings extensive credit and credit risk experience which he has gained throughout his 20-year career in banking.

Saleem is an MBA graduate in International Business from Charles Strut University, Australia.

Europe Arab Bank Executive

Haytham Kamhiyah photo

Haytham Kamhiyah
Chief Executive Officer

Haytham Kamhiyah was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Europe Arab Bank plc in December 2018. He brings over 30 years of experience in the Banking industry with specific focus on the MENA region. He started his career with Arthur Andersen in the audit and business advisory division before joining the Capital Bank of Jordan in 1996, where he became General Manager in May 2005.

Haytham held the position of CEO with Emirates Development Bank in the UAE, Jordan International Investment Group, Ithmar Islamic Finance Company, Jordan International Insurance Company, and Safwa Islamic Bank.

Haytham holds professional qualifications from the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA) and from the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in the United States. In 2005, he obtained the Advanced Management Program Diploma from the INSEAD Business School.

Mohammad Shoaib Memon photo

Mohammad Shoaib Memon
Chief Operating Officer

Mohammad Shoaib Memon has held successive senior positions within the industry with more than 20 years’ experience. He started his career with KPMG in 2000 followed by three years at Ernst & Young. He joined EAB in 2007 and has been managing diverse teams including business strategy, finance, operations, trade services, transformation, information technology and marketing.

Mohammad Shoaib is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and ACCA. He has also attended executive education courses at the Harvard Business School and Said Business School, University of Oxford.

Andrew Wilson photo

Andrew Wilson
Head of Legal

Andrew Wilson was appointed Head of Legal in December 2014. Andrew is a qualified English solicitor and highly experienced in the field of international banking. Prior to joining EAB, Andrew worked for leading international law firms in the City of London, latterly advising global financial institutions, funds and corporates on a wide range of finance transactions.

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Charlie Pickin
Chief Risk Officer

Charlie Pickin was appointed Chief Risk Officer on 1st August 2008. He was Head of Internal Audit for EAB from 2006 and held other senior posts in the Arab Bank group from 2001. He spent almost ten years in the Banking and Financial Services team of Ernst & Young, London, where he worked on a diverse range of assignments. Previously, Charlie set up the Internal Audit function for the European operations of Equifax.

Charlie is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

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Claire Cripps
Head of Private Banking

Claire Cripps joined Europe Arab Bank in 2018 and was appointed Head of Private Banking in December 2023.

With over 30 years of extensive experience in the private banking sector in London, Claire has demonstrated her commitment to serving clients across the MENA region throughout her career. Her journey in private banking began at Barclays Private Bank, where she progressed to the role of Director for the Southern Gulf team. Following her tenure at Barclays, Claire transitioned to independent financial advising at Plurimi Capital, a multi-family office. Before joining Europe Arab Bank, Claire spent 5 years at First Abu Dhabi Bank as Director of Personal Banking.

Claire holds the title of Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments (CISI) and is authorised to provide investment advice.

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Ekaterina Mihova
Head of Human Resources

Ekaterina Mihova was appointed Head of HR in September 2017. She is responsible for managing the HR department and defining and implementing the Bank's HR strategy in the UK and Europe. She joined the HR team at Europe Arab Bank in April 2007. Previously, she worked as part of the HR team at ChequePoint, an international brand offering worldwide money transfers, payments and foreign exchange services, whilst studying towards her professional HR qualifications.

Ekaterina holds a master's degree in strategic HR Management and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

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Kim Tran
Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking

Kim Tran joined Europe Arab Bank in 2019 as Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking.

Kim brings 20 years' international experience in trade finance and corporate banking. He started his career with JP Morgan in London before joining HSBC where he was Head of Corporate Banking in Lebanon and subsequently Head of Trade Sales, Commercial Banking UAE in Dubai. In 2013, Kim joined First Abu Dhabi Bank as the Head of GTB Sales, Commercial Banking for the Middle East, before moving to London as Head of Trade Sales for Europe and Americas. His last role with First Abu Dhabi Bank was as CEO of France, based in Paris.

Kim holds a master's degree in Finance and Economics.

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Mark Marthinus
Head of Internal Audit

Mark Marthinus was appointed Head of Internal Audit in February 2013. He has a wealth of experience of risk-based Internal Audit, risk assessment, risk management, front & back office investment management and commercial banking operations. Mark has worked for Europe Arab Bank since September 2010.

Mark joined EAB from Barclays where he was an Audit Manager in their Commercial Bank and was responsible for providing assurance to Barclays Corporate & Global Payments.

Prior to joining Barclays in November 2006, he was a Senior Auditor in Old Mutual South Africa. Mark also spent five years with PricewaterhouseCoopers in South Africa where he was a senior team member providing internal audit co-sourcing / outsourcing and advisory services. This included projects in the United States, Europe and South Africa.

In 2000, Mark graduated from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology with a degree in Financial Information Systems, majoring in Internal Audit. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors and has attained the Certified Internal Auditor designation.

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Samir El-Sukhun
Head of Credit

Samir El-Sukhun became Head of Credit at Europe Arab Bank in June 2010. He was formerly Head of Business Risk Review at Arab Bank in Jordan, and Head of Credit and Risk Management for Arab Bank in London. Prior to that, Samir was Vice President & Area Manager, Credit for Arab Bank, Singapore, supporting the bank's Asia Pacific operations in Singapore, Korea, China and Australia.

Before moving to Singapore, Samir spent seven years working for Arab Bank Australia Ltd.

Samir graduated from the University of Tulsa, with a BSc (Hons) in Computer Sciences in 1979 and holds an MBA from the University of Washington.

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Sidharth Chaugule
Head of Treasury

Sidharth Chaugule joined Europe Arab Bank in 2021 as Head of Treasury. During his early career, Sidharth worked for UBS, Goldman Sachs and Shell Oil in various roles within financial markets. Sidharth joined EAB from Daiwa Capital Markets Europe Ltd, where he was Executive Director, Head of Treasury Markets.

Sidharth holds a master's degree in Finance & Investment from Exeter University and a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.

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Thomas Noone
Head of Regulatory Compliance and MLRO

Thomas Noone was charged with the responsibility of Compliance Oversight in January 2020. Tom has over 20 years' experience in financial regulation both in house and consultancy. Tom has held senior compliance positions with PwC, Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Tom holds a bachelor's degree in Law (LLB) and is ACAMS qualified.

Tom is the current Chair of the MENA Financial Crime Committee Group.

VISION AND VALUES

Our values guide the way we work with clients, business partners and each other

Client focused

Clients come first. We know that satisfied clients will lead to the long-term success of our business. We offer a strategic relationship tailored to meet individual needs.

Responsible

We take our responsibilities as a bank very seriously and act with due diligence and integrity. Our people are respectful and considerate and behave as responsible corporate citizens.

Team minded

We are collaborative in our approach - across our business, our group and towards our clients - in order to deliver the best possible products and solutions teamed with service that clients can depend on.

Trustworthy

Europe Arab Bank is proud of its heritage as a trusted bank. Being part of a group with a reputation for prudence, clients can depend on us to act with care and have confidence in our competence.

Knowledgeable and progressive

We place a high value on knowledge and expertise and have a progressive outlook. We are committed to building on our many years' experience and first-hand understanding of the economic, political, social and commercial issues in Europe and MENA to the benefit of our clients.

Proud of our diversity

EAB views its diversity as a strength. It plays a positive role in forging meaningful working relationships that lead to effective outcomes for our clients, our business and our shareholders.