DUBAI, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Investment bank Lazard Ltd (LAZ.N) said on Monday it hired Wassim Al-Khatib as chief executive officer of the bank’s investment banking business for the Middle East and North Africa.
Al-Khatib will also be CEO of Lazard Saudi Arabia, the statement said, adding that the bank plans to make its presence in the kingdom its regional Middle East and North Africa investment banking hub.
Saudi Arabia raised the stakes in a competition with Dubai, the Middle East’s financial hub, when it introduced a policy in February 2021 that it will no longer sign contracts with foreign companies which do not have a regional headquarters in the kingdom after 2023.
Al-Khatib joins Lazard from Citigroup where he headed its business in Saudi Arabia and prior to that he was the head of National Commercial Bank’s investment banking business where he was a key dealmaker on oil giant…
