NBAD goes on Emirati hiring spree

The new recruits have raised the percentage of the bank’s staff that is Emirati to 35 per cent in retail banking and to 41.3 per cent in commercial banking.

NBAD has been targeting Emiratis to work in risk management. Silvia Razgova / The National

National Bank of Abu Dhabi has hired 118 UAE nationals to serve its clients in its branches and offices across the UAE and overseas.

The bank has targeted Emiratis to work in risk management.

“We want them to understand the complexity of risks in a bank,” said Alex Thursby, the bank’s chief executive. “The weaknesses of western banks was that the middle and senior executives of those lenders did not have that know-how and served as one of the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis. But that takes time and money.”

The new recruits have raised the percentage of the bank’s staff that is Emirati to 35 per cent from 33 per cent in retail banking, and to 41.3 per cent from 37 per cent in commercial banking.

“We’ve done a lot in the last 18 months, and we are starting to send our talented risk individuals in risk faculties to develop credit and market risk skills. It’s good for the country and it’s good for NBAD,” added Mr Thursby.

NBAD, like a number of other banks in the UAE, has been setting its sights on expansion outside the country, where competition among the more than 50 banks serving a population of 9 million is becoming tougher. The hunt for retail banking customers has intensified in the past few years because the margins on loans to individuals are higher than those to companies.

NBAD is also building up its fund management business, attracting sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and institutional funds through discretionally managed portfolio in a bid to offset declining margins in a low interest rate environment.

“We are broadening these funds across different types and also geographical orientation,” Mr Thursby said.

“We see positive business momentum but we expect more margin compression for the industry as a whole, which means banks will have to find ways for making good growth.

“In a very low interest rate environment you have to build a fee income business. Asset management, foreign exchange, transactional banking are all part of that strategy. It makes earnings more sustainable for the future.”

Separately, Mr Thursby said UAE lenders were currently negotiating final details of their relationship with the fledgling Al Etihad Credit Bureau.

“Commercial negotiations are going on that I am sure will be resolved very quickly. The passing of information has begun in a big way. We have passed information and I believe that most banks have.”

When questioned by reporters, he declined to provide details of what aspects of the new consumer-credit system were still being negotiated.

However, last week the chairman of the UAE Banks’ Federation, Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, singled out legal aspects as a remaining hurdle.

Mr Al Ghurair said that most lenders were still not using reports that detail creditworthiness of customers because of confusion over liability for inaccurate data.

The credit bureau is designed to strengthen the banking system against bad debt by individual customers and – eventually – corporates. Banks are obliged to hand over customer information to the credit bureau.

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter