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Newly appointed finance minister Ali Sherif Al-Emadi has been named chairman of Qatar National Bank (QNB)’s board of directors. Before being appointed to government, Emadi was chief executive of QNB for eight years, having joined the bank in 1998.

HSBC has appointed Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri as chief executive of HSBC Middle East and North Africa, effective 1 October. He replaces Simon Cooper, who moves to the role of chief executive of global commercial banking. Tuwaijri, who is currently regional head of global banking and markets at HSBC’s investment banking unit, joined HSBC Middle East in Dubai in 2010 from JP Morgan. He was appointed to the board of HSBC Bank Middle East in February. Before becoming a banker, he was a pilot in the Royal Saudi Air Force.

HSBC has appointed Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri as chief executive of HSBC Middle East and North Africa, effective 1 October. He replaces Simon Cooper, who moves to the role of chief executive of global commercial banking. Tuwaijri, who is currently regional head of global banking and markets at HSBC’s investment banking unit, joined HSBC Middle East in Dubai in 2010 from JP Morgan. He was appointed to the board of HSBC Bank Middle East in February. Before becoming a banker, he was a pilot in the Royal Saudi Air Force.

Qatar’s new finance minister, Ali Sherif Al-Emadi, faces a daunting task of bringing discipline to a public sector that has become bloated and inefficient, as gas-fuelled wealth has poured in and often been spent with little restraint. His challenge is to enable Qatar to deliver on its huge infrastructure projects in time for the 2022 World Cup, to diversify its economy, and to encourage more nationals into the private sector, despite a social contract providing them with secure public sector jobs.

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa announced his cabinet on 26 June, and has also made several other key appointments since taking office. The government includes five new ministries (transport, youth and sports, administrative development, communication and information technology and development planning and statistics) and a dozen new faces. Sheikh Tamim alluded to the shake-up in his inaugural address, promising that a timely restructuring would “reduce duplication”, and “place all public domains under the responsibility of well-defined and specific ministries”, a project begun in 2012. It is, of course, difficult to know which appointments can be read as evidence of Emir Sheikh Tamim’s designs, and which as part of the compromise required in choosing government.

In the absence of official statements, it remains unclear how significant a government reshuffle might be. But several names have repeatedly surfaced: Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud: There has been some suggestion that heir apparent Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani could be named prime minister, as well as emir, should Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani (HBJ) step down, though this would be an unusual step in Qatar. Current deputy prime minister and state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud has also been mentioned in connection with the premiership.

The man supposed to take over as chief executive at the National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah (Rakbank) has reportedly quit, not long after the bank was the victim of a massive global bank card fraud. News agency Reuters quoted two sources within the bank as saying Ian Larkin – who was to take over from outgoing chief executive Graham Honeybill in July – left just six weeks after arriving at the bank.

The chief executive of Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco), Sheikh Mohammed Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, quit the company with immediate effect on 21 May. According to Reuters, Batelco has temporarily appointed Peter Kaliaropoulos – Sheikh Mohammed’s predecessor – as chief operating officer, and asked him, along with a three-person committee of members of the board, to run the company until a new chief executive is hired.

M Al-Kharafi and Sons has won a final arbitration decision worth $930m from the Libyan government as a result of breach of contract, according to Kuwaiti media. In 2006, the company entered into a contract with the government of Muammar Qadhafi to build a seafront resort in Tripoli, including a five-star hotel, apartments and villas and a shopping mall, through a 90-year concession.

Following on from the November 2012 news that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) was investigating whether Barclays had made improper payments to win a banking licence in Saudi Arabia, the Financial Times (FT) has revealed that the DoJ is now investigating two transactions that may connect Barclays to King Abdullah’s powerful son Turki, the recently appointed Riyadh deputy governor. In August 2009, Barclays was awarded an investment banking licence by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) to operate locally as Barclays Saudi Arabia; the DoJ was to look at whether the bank may have contravened the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in obtaining it. Barclays said last November that it did not make any illegal payment to the CMA or its officials. The CMA also said it was not aware of any investigations.

Prince Turki Bin Abdelrahman’s Modern Healthcare Solutions Company – part of his Modern Group/Modern Industrial Development Holding Group – has signed a deal with the Malaysian state-owned Pharmaniagia Behard. The companies will work together on the design, establishment and operation of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment manufacturing complexes at a cost of some SR600m ($160m).

GSN provides profiles of the Dana Gas board: Sheikh Ahmed Bin Sultan Al-Qasimi, Adel Khalid Al-Sabeeh, Tawfeeq Abdulrahman Al-Moayed, Rashid Saif Al-Jarwan, Majid Jafar, Hamid Jafar, Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmed Al-Qasimi, Ahmed Rashid Al-Arbeed, Said Arrata, Ziad Abdullah Galadari, Abdulaziz Hamad Al-Jomaih, Abdullah Ali Al-Majdouie, Ahmed Al-Midfa, Varouj Nerguizian, Nasser Al-Nowais, Salah Al-Qahtani, Khalid Abdulrahman Al-Rajhi

Crescent Petroleum – the leading shareholder of publicly traded sister company Dana Gas – was founded by Hamid Jafar, who bought up the assets of US firm Buttes Oil and Gas in the early 1970s. It has since expanded into the Crescent Group of companies, picking up assets along the way including stakes and subsidiaries in businesses such as port and logistics company Gulftainer and airline Gama aviation. It remains a family company.

Former British prime minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher, who died on 8 April, recognised the commercial potential of strong relations between Britain and the Gulf. Under her watch, relations (and arms trade) with Saudi Arabia picked up pace: in April 1981 she made the first trip to Saudi Arabia ever undertaken by a British prime minister (ISS 43/7), and she was closely involved in the negotiations that led to the controversial Al-Yamamah deal.

At the 2012 Arab League summit, held on 29 March in Baghdad, only 10 out of 22 member states sent their heads of state. Kuwait was the only Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) state to send its ruler, with Qatar and Saudi Arabia both fielding low-level delegations. The turnout for Qatar’s 2013 summit, held on 26 March in Doha, was more impressive. With the Syrian chair filled by the opposition, the rest of the room held 14 heads of state; the remaining countries almost all sent high-level delegations.