Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi British Bank (SABB) and Alawwal Bank have approved to hire Lubna Olayan as a chairperson of their new merged lender.

Olayan will be the first Saudi woman to take the lead of a listed bank in the kingdom, according to a joint statement by the two banks.

On a separate note, Olayan ranked first in the list of Middle East’s most influential women in 2018 that was issued by Forbes.

The two lenders also agreed to appoint David Dew as the managing director of the new entity, as well as continue using their names and trademarks until completing their merger transaction.

Earlier on Thursday, the two banks inked a binding deal to implement a merger in the coming period.

By 1:39 pm Saudi time, Alawwal Bank's stock rose 2.68% to SAR 14.85, whereas the stock of SABB levelled down 1.09%, reaching SAR 31.90.