Saudi National Bank has appointed Fawaz Abdullah AlThumairi as Deputy Chief Executive Officer, effective September 3, 2026. The appointment comes as the Kingdom's largest lender continues a restructuring of its senior leadership to support business integration and operational efficiency amid a period of sustained profitability growth.
SNB Group said in its announcement that the promotion reflects efforts to strengthen executive leadership and evolve its operating model to support greater business integration and execution efficiency. The bank did not identify an external search firm involvement in the appointment. AlThumairi's elevation to second-in-command occurs as SNB reported a 7 percent increase in net income for the first half of 2026, reaching 13 billion Saudi riyals, and follows the bank's recognition as "Bank Treasury and Funding Team of the Year" for the second consecutive year at the 2025 Global Banking and Markets Awards, highlighting the strength of treasury operations under his prior leadership.
AlThumairi has spent his entire banking career at SNB or its predecessors, progressing through senior leadership roles spanning treasury, trading, strategy and transaction banking. Most recently, he served as Head of Treasury Business Group, where he oversaw the bank's balance sheet and liquidity management alongside investment portfolio operations across multiple asset classes including foreign exchange, rate derivatives, commodities and structured solutions. His prior roles included Head of Global Transaction Banking, where he expanded portfolios in trade finance and cash management; Head of Principal Strategies, managing investment books across asset allocation, rates, credit, equity and alternative investments; and Head of Trading. AlThumairi holds a bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and completed the High Impact Leadership program at Columbia Business School in New York.
SNB emerged from one of the region's largest banking mergers in 2021 between the National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group. The bank is Saudi Arabia's largest by total assets, with a balance sheet exceeding 1.2 trillion riyals, and reported net profits of 25.01 billion riyals in 2025, representing an 18 percent year-over-year increase. SNB is primarily owned by the Public Investment Fund and the General Organization for Social Insurance. The bank has prioritized expansion into wealth management, payments and capital markets while supporting the Kingdom's Vision 2030 development agenda through financing initiatives including SME lending, digital banking through its NEO platform, and sustainable finance products.
AlThumairi's appointment signals SNB's intent to strengthen internal continuity and operational discipline in its second-tier leadership as CEO Tareq Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan, who assumed the role in 2024, advances the bank's strategy of digital transformation and market expansion. The promotion of an executive with deep institutional knowledge and demonstrated expertise in treasury and capital markets suggests SNB is prioritizing technical depth and risk management capacity within its senior ranks, qualities increasingly important as the bank navigates global financial uncertainties while positioning itself as a regional banking powerhouse capable of managing complex cross-border transactions and sophisticated funding strategies. The appointment follows SNB's strategic entry into international capital markets, including a 500 million dollar bond issuance in Taiwan's Formosa market in 2024, indicating the bank's confidence in AlThumairi's ability to oversee execution at both group and subsidiary levels.
