Kuwait Executive Biographies

Saleem Sheikh: Biography
Prior to joining Gulf Bank as Chief Risk Officer in 2009, Saleem was with Arab Bank, where he held the position of Group Chief Credit Officer from 2007 to 2009. He was responsible for the Bank’s credit risk portfolio, credit policy supervision, portfolio management and country risk. He also spent five years with Barclays Bank as Chief Operating Officer for Corporate & Merchant Banking for the Africa & Middle East Region and later on as the Regional Managing Director for Middle East & North Africa.
He began his banking career with Citibank in 1981, and went on to hold a variety of senior business and risk roles in Pakistan, UAE, Nigeria and South Africa, where his last role was Chief Risk Officer for Sub-Sahara Africa.

Company Profile
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Saleem holds a MBA degree from Punjab University in Lahore.

Leonard Cletus: Biography
Leonard joined Gulf Bank in 2006, and has been with the Bank for over 5 years. Leonard is Deputy General Manager – Internal Audit. Prior to joining Gulf Bank, he was with KPMG where he was associated with the Internal Audits of Banks and Financial Institutions in Kuwait. He has also worked for Deloitte Touche in India and has several years experience in auditing.

Company Profile
Videos: Lending Opportunities for Kuwait’s Banking SectorKuwait: Banking Sector in 2012-2013Competition in Kuwait’s Banking Sector Corporate Banking in Kuwait Differentiation of Gulf Bank in Kuwait Gulf Bank’s GovernanceGulf Bank’s Performance in 2012Gulf Bank’s StrategyRetail Banking in KuwaitProject Finance and Kuwait’s Development Plan

Leonard is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Loyola College, India. He is also a Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Information Systems Auditor, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a member of these respective professional institutions in USA.

Husain Mairza: Biography
Husain first joined Gulf Bank from 1989 until 2003, and then rejoined the Bank in 2010 as Chief Information Officer and Deputy General Manager (IT).
Prior to rejoining Gulf Bank, he worked as Head of Systems Development at Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK), and as Head of Systems Engineering Division, Assistant General Manager, at the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK).

Company Profile
Videos: Lending Opportunities for Kuwait’s Banking SectorKuwait: Banking Sector in 2012-2013Competition in Kuwait’s Banking Sector Corporate Banking in Kuwait Differentiation of Gulf Bank in Kuwait Gulf Bank’s GovernanceGulf Bank’s Performance in 2012Gulf Bank’s StrategyRetail Banking in KuwaitProject Finance and Kuwait’s Development Plan

Husain holds an Executive Masters Degree in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut, and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh (UWO – USA).

Mark Magnacca: Biography
Mark joined Gulf Bank in 2004 as VP and Head of Marketing and then became Chief Marketing Officer, so he is now responsible for all aspects of marketing as well as the management of all Electronic Banking Channels including the Customer Contact Center, External Communications and Research.
Mark has extensive international experience in consumer marketing, international brand management and new business acquisition. He has worked successfully in a number of senior marketing roles globally and in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia having spent a major part of his career with British American Tobacco (BAT).

Company Profile
Videos: Lending Opportunities for Kuwait’s Banking SectorKuwait: Banking Sector in 2012-2013Competition in Kuwait’s Banking Sector Corporate Banking in Kuwait Differentiation of Gulf Bank in Kuwait Gulf Bank’s GovernanceGulf Bank’s Performance in 2012Gulf Bank’s StrategyRetail Banking in KuwaitProject Finance and Kuwait’s Development Plan

Mark has an MBA from Ashridge Management College (England) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree with Honors from Queen’s University (Canada).

Hatem Badr: Biography
Prior to joining Gulf Bank in late 2009 as General Counsel & General Manager – Legal Affairs, Hatem was a Partner – Chief General Counsel, Head of Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Secretary at Rasmala Investment Holding Ltd, DIFC, Dubai, where he supported the group of companies across UAE, KSA, Egypt, Oman and the UK.
He has over 25 years experience in legal, compliance and board affairs matters. During the span of his career, Hatem has worked with different international law firms such as White & Case in New York, Freshfields in London and Baker & McKenzie in Cairo. He also worked as General Counsel for Citigroup for 7 years to initially cover the North & West African region out of Cairo and then to cover the Gulf Region out of Bahrain. He, thereafter, assumed the role of Managing Director and General Counsel for the private equity firm of Gulf Capital in Abu Dhabi.

Company Profile
Videos: Lending Opportunities for Kuwait’s Banking SectorKuwait: Banking Sector in 2012-2013Competition in Kuwait’s Banking Sector Corporate Banking in Kuwait Differentiation of Gulf Bank in Kuwait Gulf Bank’s GovernanceGulf Bank’s Performance in 2012Gulf Bank’s StrategyRetail Banking in KuwaitProject Finance and Kuwait’s Development Plan

Hatem has a Masters degree in Banking, Corporate and Finance Law from Fordham University in New York.

Aly Shalaby: Biography
Prior to joining Gulf Bank in 2010 as General Manager for Consumer Banking, Aly was with National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) where he was Group General Manager of their Consumer Banking Group.
With a career spanning 33 years in banking, Aly spent over half of those with NBK. Prior to this, he was Vice President in Citigroup (in Egypt and Switzerland), where he contributed to the establishment of Citibank Egypt in the initial stage of his banking career.

Company Profile
Videos: Lending Opportunities for Kuwait’s Banking SectorKuwait: Banking Sector in 2012-2013Competition in Kuwait’s Banking Sector Corporate Banking in Kuwait Differentiation of Gulf Bank in Kuwait Gulf Bank’s GovernanceGulf Bank’s Performance in 2012Gulf Bank’s StrategyRetail Banking in KuwaitProject Finance and Kuwait’s Development Plan

Aly recently completed Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.