In a monumental decision, a woman will head a Saudi Arabian bank in a move to support the Saudi government’s latest initiatives to liberalise women’s roles in a traditionally conservative society. Saudi businesswoman Lubna Al Olayan is all set to chair a new bank being formed out of a merger between the Saudi British Bank (SABB) and Alawwal Bank. She has been deputy chair of Alawwal Bank since 2014.
Lubna Olayan is the CEO of the high net worth Olayan Group, one of the largest investors in the Saudi and regional stock markets, which actively participates in over 40 companies, often in partnership with leading multinationals. With a Bachelor of Agriculture degree from Cornell University, USA and an MBA in Business Management from the University of Indiana, USA, she has topped the list of Forbes Middle East’s Most Influential women of 2018.
The new bank formed out of the merger between the SABB and Alawwal Bank has a capitalisation of £13.2bn ($17.2bn). British multinational bank HSBC will own part of the new entity. With the binding merger agreement signed on Thursday, the new bank will become the kingdom’s third largest lender.
A trailblazer of sorts, at 63, Olayan has several firsts to her credit. She recently co-chaired the Saudi-U.S. CEO Forum, the first annual summit of U.S. and Saudi CEOs and Saudi government officials to build bilateral trade. In 2004, Olayan joined the board of the Saudi Hollandi Bank, becoming the first woman to be elected to the board of a Saudi public company. That year she claimed another first as the first Saudi woman to make the opening keynote speech at the Jeddah Economic Forum, a major conference in Saudi Arabia. From 1996 to 2004 she was on the board of the British property developer Chelsfield plc and in 2006 and 2007 she joined the international advisory boards of Rolls-Royce and Citigroup respectively. She co-chaired the 2005 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In 2010, she was awarded the Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year. Lubna also continues to champion women in Saudi Arabia. In 2001 she hired her first woman, whose task was to increase the number of female employees at OFC. As of 2018, 500 of OFC’s 16,000 employees across the Middle East are women. Olayan wants women to make up 30 percent of OFC’s Saudi workforce.
Empowerment of Saudi women is a major aspect of Saudi Vision 2030, the kingdom’s modernisation plans led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In June, Saudi women were officially allowed behind the wheel for the first time, after a driving ban was lifted.
