Hisham Ezz Al-Arab Participates in Global Finance Roundtable Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of (CIB)
As part of Commercial International Bank’s (CIB) 50th anniversary celebrations, Global Finance magazine hosted a special roundtable discussion with senior executives from the bank, highlighting its remarkable journey as Egypt’s largest private-sector bank and a driving force in transforming the country’s banking landscape.
The discussion featured Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, CEO and Executive Board Member; Amr El-Ganainy, Deputy CEO and Executive Board Member; Islam Zekry, Group Chief Finance and Operations Officer and Executive Board Member; Omar El-Husseiny, CEO of Global Markets; and Rashwan Hammady, Chief Retail, Commercial Banking, and Financial Inclusion Executive.
During the session, Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, CIB’s CEO, reviewed key milestones in the bank’s history since its establishment in the 1970s. He noted that the National Bank of Egypt and Chase Manhattan Bank played a pivotal role in founding CIB, marking a turning point in Egypt’s commercial lending practices by shifting from asset-based to cash flow-based lending—a transformation that revolutionized local banking philosophy at the time.
Ezz Al-Arab emphasized that CIB’s sustained success over five decades stems from a deeply rooted corporate culture built on adaptability, innovation, and continuous pursuit of excellence. He explained that, since the late 1990s, the bank has pursued a strategy to position itself as a market leader by implementing international best practices in governance and management, even before such standards were mandated by local regulations.
He further highlighted that CIB was among the first banks in Egypt to adopt Basel III standards in 2012 for asset-liability management, and that it established several specialized committees—such as the Global Risk Committee and the Governance Committee—underscoring its commitment to global banking standards.
Ezz Al-Arab added that the exit of the National Bank of Egypt from CIB’s shareholder structure in 2005 marked the beginning of a new growth phase, with a consortium led by Ripplewood Holdings (USA) becoming the main shareholder, bringing valuable international expertise that enhanced governance and institutional structure. He also noted that the entry of Abu Dhabi’s ADQ as a major shareholder in 2022 reaffirmed global investor confidence in CIB’s strength and financial resilience.
He concluded by stressing that CIB’s success is not only the result of financial capital, but also of its investment in human capital, governance, and board expertise, which have together cemented CIB’s position as one of the leading financial institutions in the region—continuing to drive Egypt’s economic development and embrace cutting-edge global banking practices.
