Bin Suleiman replaced as governor of the DIFC

Asa Fitch

• Last Updated: November 20. 2009 10:32PM UAE / November 20. 2009 6:32PM GMT

Dr Omar bin Suleiman has been replaced as governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

Ahmed Humaid al Tayer, a high-profile businessman and former federal government minister, has been appointed to the post, according to a statement on the state news agency, WAM.

Mr al Tayer is the chairman of Emirates NBD bank, the country’s largest lender by assets, and is a member of the boards of numerous Dubai-based companies, including his family’s Al Tayer Group, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dubai Aluminum and the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

No reasons were given for the departure of Dr bin Suleiman, one of the emirate’s most visible business leaders.

“Ahmed Humaid al Tayer has been appointed as a Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre, as per a decree issued by ... Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in his capacity as a Ruler of Dubai,” WAM said, adding that the decree was effective upon its publication in the official gazette without specifying an exact date.

Dr Suleiman joined the DIFC during its infancy in 2004 and served until 2006 as director general of the DIFC Authority before being appointed governor later the same year.

Dr Suleiman, who is also a member of the DIFC’s board of directors and is vice chairman of Central Bank, a Cabinet-level post, is credited with attracting hundreds of companies to the DIFC and shepherding its growth into a major financial centre.

Since its founding just over five years ago, the DIFC, an economic free zone with a set of laws and regulations that are separate from the ones that govern the rest of the UAE, has become a favoured locale for international financial services firms in the Gulf. According to the DIFC, more than 800 companies have established a presence at the centre since 2004.

The appointment of Mr al Tayer, who was formerly Minister of Communications, comes amid a series of shake-ups at Dubai’s large government-owned holding companies. On Thursday, the board of the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the holding company that owns Emirates Airline and Emirates NBD, was reshuffled. Sheikh Mohammed was named its chairman and his son, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the Crown Prince of Dubai, was appointed its vice-chairman.

Dubai World, another of the emirate’s large holding companies, is also in the midst of a major restructuring. The conglomerate said in October that it eliminated more than 12,000 jobs globally and consolidated some of its businesses to make them “appropriately sized” to take on the challenges of the financial crisis. The restructuring was expected to save US$800 million (Dh2.9 billion).



afitch@thenational.ae