Published: March 24, 2015
Mashreq’s new head in Qatar; Aramex’s acquisition; Omani banks in the markets; and more.
Couldn’t stay away
A short stint in the Middle East gave Dutch banker Henk Hoogendoorn a taste for the region – a decade later, that has worked to Mashreq Bank’s benefit.
In the middle of a 20-year banking career spent almost entirely in Amsterdam, four years in Saudi Arabia can stick in the mind as a standout experience, as Dutch banker Henk Hoogendoorn discovered.
Back in 1989, fresh out of university, Hoogendoorn joined ABN Amro’s graduate trainee programme. During more than two decades with the Dutch bank he held a variety of roles including director of corporate clients. Between 2000 and 2004 he took a post with Saudi Hollandi Bank, a Riyadh-based firm then part-owned by ABN Amro, where he set up a structured finance unit. The experience stuck with him, and Hoogendoorn is now in the region again, working with Dubai-based Mashreq Bank as the new country head for its business in Qatar.
After leaving Saudi Arabia in 2004, Hoogendoorn spent