Rania Nashar: Saudi Arabia’s First Female CEO Of A Commercial Bank

Nashar, however, is confident in her managing strategy. Maintaining Samba’s asset quality through the economic slump is the first order of business, and playing it safe is the prudent course of action, she says.

“We don’t want to tap riskier areas just to increase our income but suffer from that risk later on down the road,” she says. “Maybe some will perceive us losing certain opportunities, but we believe that it is better that we always go forward with the business steadily and surely.”

Despite the economic pressures, major ratings agencies say Samba’s fundamentals are solid. “It’s very strongly capitalized. It is very profitable and its asset quality has remained very stable, in fact more stable than most other banks we rate in Saudi Arabia,” said Andrew Parkinson, a Director on the Financial Institutions team at Fitch Ratings.

“Samba has very resilient financial fundamentals and resilient capabilities. The challenge is to continue on that track,” agreed Christos Theofilou, an analyst with Moody’s Investors Services.

While staying the course may be the order of the day, the Saudi economy is changing. No longer able to be the sole provider of services and industrial growth, the government is looking to galvanize the private sector and diversify its oil-heavy holdings. Samba hopes to capitalize on new private sector partnerships both as a creditor and in an advisory capacity.

“We will see a policy focused on diversifying sources of income by investing the kingdom’s huge resources, activating the role of the private sector and promoting trade and industrialization,” Nashar explains.

The centerpiece of the privatization push will be the public listing of Saudi Aramco, Saudi’s national oil outfit. Aramco is believed to be the world’s most valuable company with Most industry experts estimating its market capitalization to be approximately 1 trillion. Saudi authorities have announced their intention to list Aramco both on an as yet undetermined foreign stock exchange and on the local Tadawul.

Samba has been selected to advise Aramco on its local Tadawul IPO. Quizzed about the deal, Nashar revealed only that discussions were still in the early stages.

Even though some of the challenges may be new, Nashar has rehearsed the company playbook by heart over 20 years. “I am not a stranger to Samba,” she says. “It’s the place where I have been all my career. I have seen it all. I know the smell of each and every brick in the building… It’s home for me.”