Saudi biggest lender names new CEO in new top reshuffle

Saudi Arabia's biggest lender has appointed a new chief executive to lead the bank, replacing its former acting CEO who was appointed to the role a year ago in the turmoil following the fall of Credit Suisse. 

Saudi National Bank (SNB) said on Wednesday its board had accepted the resignation of acting CEO Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji due to "personal circumstances".

He was named acting chief executive in March last year as part of a reshuffle at the top of SNB as it took a loss of more than $1 billion on its stake of almost 9.9% in Credit Suisse.

The kingdom's biggest bank by assets had invested 5.5 billion riyals to buy the stake in Credit Suisse in 2022 and became its top shareholder.

Comments by SNB's former chairman Ammar Al Khudairy in March last year exacerbated a crisis of confidence in the Swiss lender, resulting in a major sell-off and a government-arranged takeover by domestic rival UBS.

On Wednesday, SNB said in a bourse filing that new CEO Tareq Abdulrahman Al Sadhan would start his new role on May 1.

He joins from regional lender Riyad bank, where he served as chief executive until December last year.