Saudi Bank Samba Follows Bourse in Naming Woman to Top Position

20/02/2017 12:48 AST

Saudi Arabia's Samba Financial Group named Rania Mahmoud Nashar as chief executive officer, the second woman recruited for a top finance-industry position in recent days as the country undertakes unprecedented social and economic change.

Nashar's appointment is effective Feb. 19, according to a statement to the stock exchange on Sunday. She replaces Sajjad Razvi who resigned for personal reasons. On Thursday, NCB Capital Co. CEO Sarah Al Suhaimi was named the first woman to chair Saudi Arabia's stock exchange, the region's largest.

The appointments are significant for a country where the female unemployment rate is more than 34 percent and women aren't allowed to drive. They also need a guardian's consent to travel outside the country or marry. Change is starting to happen with the number of working women jumping 50 percent between 2010 and 2015, and more Saudi women entering male-dominated fields such as banking and engineering.

Samba's Nashar has almost two decades of experience in banking and has taken various leadership roles at the bank through its executive track program, according to the lender. Al Suhaimi replaces Khalid Al Rabiah as head of the bourse, known as the Tadawul. She's expected to keep her position at NCB Capital, the investment banking unit of National Commercial Bank, a person familiar with the appointment said. Al Suhaimi was the first female head of a Saudi investment bank when she assumed the role in 2014. Before joining NCB Capital, Al Suhaimi was chief investment officer at Jadwa Investment and a senior portfolio manager at Samba Financial Group. Her father, Jammaz Al Suhaimi, was the head of the Capital Market Authority, the market regulator, until 2006.

The kingdom's $439 billion stock exchange, which opened to foreigners in 2015, is seeking to attract more overseas investment as part of the country's plans to diversify the economy away from oil.

Bloomberg