Essdar Capital today announced that H.E. Hamad Abdulla Al Shamsi, one of the UAE’s most prominent business figures, will succeed H.E. Khalil Foulathi as Chairman of Essdar Capital Holdings Limited and its two operating subsidiaries in the Dubai International Financial Centre, Essdar Capital Limited and Essdar Capital Managers Limited.

H.E. Khalil Foulathi was appointed as Board Chairman of the Central Bank of the UAE further to President H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Federal Decree Number 56 of year 2008, and as such H.E. Khalil Foulathi has relinquished the Chairmanship of Essdar Capital Board. Essdar Capital’s CEO, Mohamad Soutedeh stated “H.E. Foulathi’s contribution as a founder of Essdar Capital has been extremely significant. We wish him the very best with his new appointment.”

H.E. Al Shamsi is currently the Chairman of Al Quadra Holding as well as the CEO of International Capital Trading. H.E. Al Shamsi is a director of leading regional institutions such as the Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development, Etihad Airways, Finance House and Qatar telecom (Qtel).

Essdar Capital Limited Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee conducted a thorough search to find a suitable replacement for H.E. Foulathi and deliberately set the bar high to ensure the right candidate was appointed. Hafsa Al Ulama, Vice Chairman of Essdar Capital stated “The Board of Essdar Capital is delighted to make this excellent appointment. H.E. Al Shamsi was chosen based on his unquestionable knowledge of the markets as well as the GCC region, and his strong belief in corporate governance and international best practice. He will be a strong leader to take Essdar Capital through the next stages of growth and expansion.”
H.E. Al Shamsi said: "I am honoured to have been invited by the Board to become Essdar Capital's Chairman and to help build on the initial stages that the current management has wrought. It is a great business model, with unequalled local and international expertise and I am looking forward immensely to working to take Essdar Capital forward in the future."

The appointment of H.E. Al Shamsi will take effect immediately.

Essdar Capital, a newly established specialized investment and advisory firm, today announced that it has been granted two licences by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to operate and establish two entities in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

From the DIFC, Essdar Capital Limited will offer a full range of advisory and financial services, including arrangement of securitized, hybrid and subordinated debt. With Essdar Capital Limited’s highly qualified and experienced management team responsible for some of the pioneering transactions in the region, it is exceedingly well positioned to accommodate the financing needs of the Middle East’s largest issuers.

Essdar Capital Managers Limited,  the asset management arm of Essdar Capital, will provide investment opportunities in its funds business to  both large institutional investors as well as the region’s most sophisticated private investors in key industry sectors such as  Infrastructure (transportation, energy, water and electricity, telecommunications), Commercial and Residential Real Estate as well as Consumer Finance.

Nasser Al Shaali, Chief Executive Officer of the DIFC Authority, said: "As the fastest growing financial centre in the world, the DIFC is committed to providing a broad range of financial instruments to cater for the needs of the region’s investor community. We are delighted to welcome Essdar Capital to the DIFC community and we are confident that their products and services will become valuable additions to the financial mechanisms already available at the centre."

Essdar Capital’s shareholders are amongst the UAE’s sovereign funds and prominent private institutions. Mr. Khalil Foulathi, Chairman of the Board of Essdar Capital said: “Essdar was established to provide objective, global class investment banking and asset management expertise to the region’s major institutions. Its two DIFC companies, Essdar Capital Limited and Essdar Capital Managers Limited are to be the flagship of the Group. Essdar Group is now fully operational with a strong regional team recruited from major global financial centers.”

Essdar Capital’s Chief Executive Officer, Mohamad Sotoudeh stated “The Essdar team has unique capabilities in combining best of class global product expertise as well as in depth, local knowledge to serve the financing and investment needs of the larger region. We are extremely proud to be DIFC incorporated with licences from the DFSA which shows our commitment to the highest levels of integrity, transparency and professionalism.”

Order of appearance in the picture from left to right is:
Sarah Watts, Managing Director, CCO, Essdar Capital Limited and Essdar Capital Managers Limited
Waleed Al-Hashemi, Board Director, Essdar Capital Limited and CFO, Dubai Financial Group
Nasser Alshaali, CEO of DIFC Authority
H.E. Khalil Foulathi, Chairman, Essdar Capital Limited and First Vice President, Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Mohamad Sotoudeh, Managing Director, CEO, Essdar Capital Limited and Essdar Capital Managers Limited
Hafsa Al Ulama, Board Director, Essdar Capital Limited and CEO, Capital Investments

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About DIFC
Website: www.difc.ae

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is an onshore hub for global finance. It bridges the time gap between the financial centres of Hong Kong and London and services a region with the largest untapped emerging market for financial services.

In just three years, over 550 firms have registered at the DIFC. They operate in an open environment complemented with world-class regulations and standards. The DIFC offers its member institutions incentives such as 100 per cent foreign ownership, zero tax on income and profits and no restrictions on foreign exchange. In addition their business benefits from modern infrastructure, operational support and business continuity facilities of uncompromisingly high standards.