CBI appoints Douwe Oppedijk as CEO

Oppedijk, 55, has served as Chief Operating Officer and subsequently Acting Managing Director of Saudi Hollandi Bank, Riyadh with responsibilities in general management, operations, IT and sales. Prior to this, he was ABN AMRO Bank's Country Manager in Indonesia, where he was responsible for driving the overall performance of the bank including successfully managing recoveries following the Asian financial crisis.

Previously, Oppedijk served four years as Country Manager of the bank's UAE operations, where he developed the consumer banking division as a second main business line to positive revenue levels. His key achievements include introducing the ABN AMRO Credit Card and establishing it as one of the leading and preferred cards in the UAE. Key achievements include introducing the call centre and travel service centre concepts to the bank's portfolio of services and expanding trade finance activities to include large local corporates.

Hamad Al Mutawa, the bank's Chairman of the board said that the CBI board unanimously selected Oppedjik based on his track record in leading regional and international financial organisations, as well as his strong executive and personal qualities as well as his diverse geographical experience.

"Our search for a new leader to further build CBI to sustained success has been focused and thorough," said Al Mutawa. "A core screening team of board members established a broad field of candidates and interviewed many individuals. We then recommended the strongest contenders to the board as finalists. Each was interviewed by the entire board, and Douwe was our top choice."

"Douwe came to our attention because of his experience, which spans across strategic banking management, operational/ transactional banking management and customer focus. He has strong business acumen, a successful commercial background backed up by a solid execution capability. His added advantage is that he is sensitive to cultural differences and he has worked across the globe geographically covering Europe, United States, Far East & Middle East Asia. This makes him to be a person with strong market intelligence and understanding."

Oppedijk said, "CBI is one of the region's fastest growing financial institutions, with a proud history of customer centric services, policies, outstanding talent and enviable positions in many of its divisions and services. It's a great honor to join its leadership team and have the opportunity to build on its success."

Oppedijk is active in his role, having taken up his new duties on 11th of May 2008.

A brief biography of Oppedijk is provided below.