Board of Directors
Mona Zulficar
Chairperson, EFG Hermes HoldingMs. Mona Zulficar has served as non-executive Chairperson of EFG Hermes Holding since April 2008. Ms. Zulficar is a Founding Partner and Chairperson of Zulficar & Partners Law Firm, a specialized corporate law firm comprising of 11 partners and more than 50 associates, established in June 2009. The Firm has since grown into one of the top ranked law firms in Egypt. Ms. Zulficar was previously Senior Partner at Shalakany Law Firm and Chair of its Executive Committee for several years.
Ms. Zulficar is recognized in local and international legal circles as the precedent setter and one of Egypt’s most prominent corporate, banking, and project finance attorneys. As an M&A and capital markets transactions specialist, Ms. Zulficar has led negotiations on some of Egypt and the Middle East’s largest and most complex successful transactions over the past three decades.
Ms. Zulficar also played an instrumental role in modernizing and reforming economic and banking laws and regulations, both in her capacity as former board member of the Central Bank of Egypt during the banking reform program from 2003 to 2011 and as a prominent member of national drafting committees. Ms. Zulficar is a leading human rights activist recognized locally and internationally and has initiated several successful campaigns for new human rights legislation, including women’s rights, freedom of opinion, and family courts. Ms. Zulficar served as Vice President of the Constitutional Committee, played a key role in drafting the 2014 Egyptian Constitution, and has served as a member of the National Council for Human Rights for many years up until 2020.
Ms. Zulficar was recently elected President of the first Egyptian Microfinance Federation, currently the Egyptian Federation for Financing Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises, and chairs several NGOs active in social development and microfinance for underprivileged women. Internationally, Ms. Zulficar served two terms as an elected member of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee up until 2011.
Ms. Zulficar holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Political Science degree from Cairo University and an LLM from Mansoura University, as well as an honorary doctorate degree in Law from the University of Zurich.
Yasser El Mallawany
Vice Chairman of the Board, EFG Hermes HoldingMr. Yasser El Mallawany is the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of EFG Hermes Holding’s Board of Directors. Since his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the Firm in 2003, Mr. El Mallawany has played a key role in driving the consolidation of Egypt’s investment banking sector and facilitated the emergence of EFG Hermes as the leading Arab investment bank, at the time.
Mr. El Mallawany began his career at Commercial International Bank (CIB), formerly Chase National Bank, for 16 years, last serving as the General Manager of the Corporate Banking Division. Mr. El Mallawany joined EFG Hermes at the time of the Firm’s merger with CIIC.
Mr. El Mallawany holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Cairo University.
Karim Awad
Group Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Committee, EFG Hermes HoldingMr. Karim Awad is Group Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Executive Committee, and a member of the Board of EFG Hermes Holding. With over 22 years of experience, Mr. Awad started his career in EFG Hermes in 1998 in the Investment Banking department, eventually heading the division in 2007 and leading several high-profile local and regional transactions. He assumed managerial roles in the Firm thereafter, first as CEO of the Investment Bank in 2012 and then as Group CEO in 2013.
Since then, Mr. Awad has led a substantial restructuring at the firm that included streamlining its expenses and divesting its non-core assets, the key being its stake in Lebanese bank Credit Libanais. Working together with the EFG Hermes’ senior management, Mr. Awad spearheaded a major shift in the Firm’s strategy that transformed EFG Hermes from a MENA-based investment bank to a frontier markets financial solutions house. To achieve this vision, the Firm focused on six pillars: hiring the best people, improving the Firm’s positioning in the markets it operates in, selectively expanding its geographical presence, enhancing its product offering, increasing profitability metrics, and ensuring that public responsibility remains front and center in all its operations.
Throughout the past eight years, the Firm was able to enhance its market share in its core sell side operations of investment banking, brokerage, and research while expanding its presence to six new markets that span sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The buy side business was completely revamped through the consolidation of its regional asset management business with affiliate Frontier Investment Management (FIM) in 2017 and the re-emergence of an active Private Equity division that is a key player in renewables, education, and healthcare. The Firm was also able to significantly increase the suite of products it offers to clients by building a full-fledged non-bank financial institutions (NBFI) platform that currently includes leasing, factoring, microfinance, buy now pay later (BNPL) fintech platform, mortgage finance, payment, and insurance in addition to fixed income and structured products platforms. In 2021, EFG Hermes achieved yet another transformative step in its journey through the acquisition of a majority stake in Arab Investment Bank, thereby evolving its Egyptian operations into a universal bank that offers investment and commercial banking under its different brands, in addition to non-banking financial services.
The strategic shift helped drive growth in the Firm’s revenues that reached EGP 5.5 billion and profits that topped EGP 1.3 billion in 2020 all while maintaining a strong commitment to the communities the Group operates in through an active CSR policy and the active adoption of progressive ESG standards.
Mr. Awad holds a BA in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo.
Efstratios Georgios(Takis) Arapoglou
Non-Executive Board Member, EFG Hermes Holding Efstratios Georgios (Takis) ArapoglouMr. Arapoglou has had an earlier career in International Capital Markets and Corporate & Investment banking based in London and later in managing, restructuring, and advising publicly listed Financial Institutions and Corporates, primarily in SE Europe and the Middle East.
Most recent executive assignments include: Managing Director and Global Head of the Banks and Securities Industry for Citigroup; Chairman and CEO of the National Bank of Greece; CEO of Commercial Banking at EFG-Hermes Holding SAE.
Mr. Arapoglou currently holds the following non-executive board positions: Chairman of Bank of Cyprus Group, Chairman of Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) Ltd, Chairman of Titan Cement International (TCI) SA and non-executive Board member of EFG-Hermes Holding SAE. He has degrees in Mathematics, Engineering and Management from Greek and British Universities.
Marwan Elaraby
Partner – Shearman & Sterling LLPMr. Marwan Elaraby is a non-executive member of the EFG Hermes board. He is based in Dubai, where he serves as partner in the Capital Markets and Mergers & Acquisitions practices at Shearman & Sterling LLP, where he also currently serves as Head of the Dubai Office and Corporate Business Unit leader. His practice focuses on advising governments and private capital clients on a variety of corporate and capital market transactions across several industries. Mr. Elaraby first joined Shearman & Sterling in New York in 1995, and became a partner in 2004. He previously served as Managing Director at Citadel Capital, one of the leading private equity firms in the Middle East and Africa. Mr. Elaraby also served as Executive Director in EFG Hermes’ investment banking group, where he worked as an investment banker advising clients on numerous capital markets and M&A transactions in the Middle East.
Mr. Elaraby is a New York-qualified lawyer.
Mr. Elaraby holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the American University in Cairo and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Columbia University School of Law.
Jean Cheval
Senior Advisor, NatixisMr. Jean Cheval is a non-executive member of the EFG Hermes board. He joined Natixis in June 2009, leading the Debt and Finance Department (Structured Finance) until 2012, and the European Area between 2011 and 2012. Mr. Cheval became Head of Finance and Risk, member of Natixis Senior Management Committee, and second Senior Manager of Natixis in September 2012, up until October 2017. Since then, he was appointed Senior Advisor to Natixis’ CEO, and also member of the Board of Alpha Bank in Greece.
Mr. Cheval spent the majority of his career at Credit Agricole lndosuez from 1983 to 2001, where he was successively Chief Economist, Head of Strategic Planning and Budget, Head of Structured Financing and Head of the Middle East and Asia, prior to being appointed General Manager. Mr. Cheval also served as Director of Al Bank Al Saudi Al Fransi in Saudi Arabia, WAFA Bank in Morocco, and Banque Libano-Française in Lebanon.
Mr. Cheval was also Head of Banque Audi France, Chairman of Banque Audi Switzerland from 2001 to 2005, and member of the board of Audi-Saradar Bank from 2002 to 2006. Mr. Cheval previously worked for the French Ministry of Industry and the French Planning Agency.
Mr. Cheval graduated from the École Centrale de Paris’ Engineering School and the University of Berkeley.
Zubyr Soomro
Chairman of the National Bank of PakistanMr. Zubyr Soomro is a non-executive member of the EFG Hermes Holding board. Mr. Soomro was previously startup Chairman of the Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company, a market-based entity majority owned by KfW, and a DFID subsidiary. The company was established to be the apex for the 45 microfinance lenders in Pakistan. His engagement with the microfinance sector extends over 20 years, and has involved board roles in the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Acumen Pakistan, and Grameen Foundation USA. Mr. Soomro served on the boards of all three of Pakistan's financial services regulators, namely the State Bank of Pakistan, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Karachi Stock Exchange, of which he was Chairman. Mr. Soomro is on the board of governors of the Layton Rahmatulla Benevolent Trust, a leading eye-care provider handling one million patients per year, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, which is Pakistan's leading oncology services provider, and the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. In 2021, Mr Soomro was appointed as the Chairman of the United National Bank Ltd, a joint venture incorporated in the UK.
In April 2019, Pakistan's government appointed Mr.Soomro as Chairman of the National Bank of Pakistan, one of the largest banks in the country. It is majorly government owned, with a global network and over 1,500 domestic branches. Mr. Soomro was also appointed to the board of Sarmaya Pakistan, a sovereign fund set up in March 2019 to oversee the country's 204 government-owned corporate entities.
Mr. Soomro spent the majority of his career at Citibank in international corporate, investment, consumer, and private banking. Over the span of his 33-year career at the bank, Mr. Soomro worked across the Middle East, Turkey, Africa, the UK, and Pakistan. Mr. Soomro retired in 2008 as Managing Director and Country Head for Pakistan. In the midst of his Citibank career, Mr. Soomro took a three-year leave of absence to become the Chairman and President of United Bank Ltd., a 1,800-branch government-owned institution with presence in 10 countries. Mr. Soomro was tasked with restructuring the bank for privatization. In 2004, the Central Bank awarded him the Quaid-E-Azam Centenary Gold Medal for his work in restructuring United Bank Ltd. and his contribution to the financial sector reform as Chairman of the Pakistan Bank's Association.
Mr. Soomro was a member of the government's Economic Advisory Council from 1997 to 2000 and again from 2013 to 2018. Mr. Soomro also served as President of the American Business Council and the Overseas Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in addition to being Chairman of the Pakistan Banks’ Association.
Mr. Soomro holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the London School of Economics, a master’s degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies, and completed the Executive Education Program for Financial Inclusion in 2015 and 2017, as well as the Leadership in Uncertain Times program in 2020 from the Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.
Abdulla Khalil Al Mutawa
General Manager - The Private Office of H. E. Sheikh Suroor Bin Mohammed Al NahyanMr. Abdulla Khalil Al Mutawa is a non-executive member of the EFG Hermes board. He is a dedicated investment professional with more than 35 years of experience and a comprehensive background in Finance and Administration. Mr. Al Mutawa holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina, USA. Mr. Al Mutawa is currently the General Manager of the Private Office of H.E. Sheikh Suroor Bin Mohammad Al Nahyan.
Mr. Al Mutawa also served on the Board of Directors of Bank Alfalah Limited, Pakistan since 1997, with membership posts on the bank’s Board Audit Committee (BAC), Remuneration & Nomination Committee (BHR&NC), Board Risk Management Committee (BRMC), Board Compensation Committee (BCC), and Board Information Technology Committee (BITC), in addition to serving as Chairman of the Board Strategy & Finance Committee (BS&FC).
Mr. Al Mutawa is also Chairman of Makhazen Investment PJSC (Private Joint-Stock Company) Abu Dhabi and member of the board of Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company. as member of the Board Audit & Compliance Committee
Khalid Mana Saeed Al Otaiba
Office Manager for His Excellency Dr. Mana Saeed Al OtaibaMr. Khalid Mana Saeed Al Otaiba is a non-executive member of the EFG Hermes Holding board. Mr. Al Otaiba has been Office Manager for His Excellency Dr. Mana Saeed Al Otaiba, the personal advisor to His Highness the President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, since 2005. Mr. Al Otaiba also holds the post of Deputy Chairman of Al Otaiba Group of Companies. Mr. Al Otaiba leverages his over 20-year career, spanning numerous industries, to serve as Director of Alfalah Insurance Company Limited, Pakistan, Chairman of Liwa International Investment Tourism and Royal Mirage Hotel & Resort Ltd, Morocco, and Chairman of Ghantout International and Bank Alfalah and Director of Royal Mirage Masdar, Abu Dhabi.
Mr. Al Otaiba holds a bachelor’s degree in International Economics from Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Ramsay Zaki
Founder Wafra ExportMr. Ramsay Zaki is a non-executive member of the EFG Hermes Holding board. In 2014, Mr. Zaki founded Wafra Export, a fruit export company which owns a state-of-the-art packing house and grows its produce on a 360-acre plot. Mr. Zaki was part of the EFG Hermes team for 18 years, starting as Head of Operations Brokerage in 1995 and ending his tenure as Chief Operating Officer. As COO, Mr. Zaki was responsible for managing operational matters, including compliance-related functions. Mr. Zaki’s contribution to EFG Hermes included growing the Firm’s backbone in all countries and lines of business, rapidly growing it while maintaining the highest degree of corporate governance and ethics, and weathering major economic and political events in the region. He was also member of the Firm’s board until 2013.
Prior to joining EFG Hermes, Mr. Zaki worked for five years at Commercial International Bank (CIB), where he headed the team responsible for extending credit to the Egyptian pharmaceutical industry. During his time at CIB, Mr. Zaki successfully more than doubled loans to the sector and captured a 70% market share of all private sector pharmaceutical companies operating in Egypt. Mr. Zaki was also heavily involved in the merger negotiations between the two biggest private sector pharmaceutical companies in the country.
Mr. Zaki holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Cairo University.
Timothy. C. Collins
CEO and Senior MD of Ripplewood Advisors LLCMr. Timothy Collins is a non-executive member of the EFG Hermes Holding board. Timothy Collins is the CEO and senior managing director of Ripplewood Advisors, the successor to Ripplewood Holdings, which he founded in 1995. Ripplewood has successfully invested in and built companies spanning across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. It has consistently delivered superior returns from investments totalling more than $40 billion in enterprise value.
Ripplewood has played an instrumental role in transforming and strengthening prominent financial institutions, including AS Citadele banka of Latvia, Commercial International Bank of Egypt, and Shinsei Bank of Japan and has invested in a broad range of industries, including automotive, chemicals, consumer electronics, food, real estate, and telecommunications. Ripplewood’s investment in Internet provider Gogo began the revolution in in-flight connectivity that is now becoming pervasive.
Many Ripplewood investments remain public companies. Before founding Ripplewood, Mr. Collins worked for Onex, Lazard Frères, Booz Allen Hamilton and Cummins. He formerly served on several public-company boards, including Advance Auto Parts, Asbury Automotive, Citigroup (after it accepted public funds), Commercial International Bank, Gogo, Rental Services Corporation and Shinsei Bank. He also served as an independent director at Weather Holdings, a large private emerging-markets telecom operator that was sold to VimpelCom.
Mr. Collins currently sits on the Board of Directors of Banque Saudi Fransi, EFG Hermes and SODIC. He is the Chairman of AS Citadele banka and is involved in several not-for-profit and public sector activities, including the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, NEOM, McKinsey and Yale Divinity School Advisory Boards. He was formerly the Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Yale School of Management, and is currently the co-chair of the Advisory Council of the NYU Global Institute for Advanced Study and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee to the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
Mr. Collins has a BA in Philosophy from DePauw University and an MBA in Public and Private Management from Yale University’s School of Management. Mr. Collins received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from DePauw University in 2004 and has been an Adjunct Professor and Visiting Fellow at New York University. He has served as a Visiting Lecturer at the Yale Law School and is Senior Fellow and Director of the Henry P. Becton Fellowship Program at the Yale School of Management.
Elizabeth Critchley
Partner - Ripplewood Advisors LimitedMs. Elizabeth Critchley is a non-executive member of the EFG Hermes Holding board. Ms. Critchley is a partner at Ripplewood Advisors Limited, running the company’s day-to-day operations. Before joining Ripplewood, Ms. Critchley was a Founding Partner at Resolution Operations, which raised GBP 660 million via a listed vehicle at the end of 2008 and went on to make three acquisitions in financial services, namely Friends Provident PLC for USD 2.7 billion, most of AXA UK Life’s businesses for USD 4 billion, and Bupa for USD 0.3 billion. This consolidation strategy was financed through a combination of debt and equity raisings, as well as structured vendor financing. Prior to establishing Resolution Operations, Ms. Critchley was Managing Director at Goldman Sachs International, where she ran the European FIG Financing business. Ms. Critchley has structured, advised, and invested in transactions with more than fifty global financials and corporates. Mrs. Critchley has a First-Class Honors Degree in Mathematics from University College London.