Masraf Al Rayan reconstitutes board with al-Abdullah as chairman

Masraf Al Rayan has reconstituted its seven member board for 2017-19 with Dr Hussein Ali Abdul Rahman al-Abdullah  as chairman and managing director and Turki Mohamad al-Khater as vice chairman.The other board members are Sheikh Ali bin Jassim M J al-Thani; Nasser Jaralla S Jaralla al-Marri (representing Ministry of Defence, Qatar Armed Forces); Abdulla Ahmed A A al-Jehani; Dr Menahi Khalid M A al-Hajri (representing Employee Loans Fund, Ministry of Interior); Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad N J al-Thani; Nasser Mohamed al-Abdulla (representing Shatea Al-Nile Company) and Taskeen for Business and Investment (whose representative is yet to be named).At the annual general assembly held on Sunday, shareholders also approved the board’s recommendations for sukuk issuance of up to a maximum of $2bn equivalent and 20% cash dividend.The three-way merger of Masraf Al Rayan, International Bank of Qatar and Barwa Bank to create the second-largest bank in Qatar with total assets amounting to around QR173bn and a market share of around 14%, is expected to be completed in six months.Global credit rating agency Moody’s had said the proposed three-way merger would be beneficial for the Qatari banking system as it would strengthen the overall business proposition and product diversification of the combined entity given their individual segmental strengths.