Hashim Shawa joined Bank of Palestine (BoP) as chairman and general manager in 2007 and has maintained the bank’s strategic direction of sustained growth and expansion. In addition to institutionalization of the bank, Shawa brought forth a value-based approach to banking and an active financial-inclusion program that focuses on providing banking services and financial awareness to women, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and youth, effectively making BoP the largest Palestinian financial institution engaged in retail, corporate, SME and Micro, and diaspora banking operations, with the largest card-processing operations in Palestine – including coverage for Islamic Banking Solutions through its subsidiary operations, winning the bank several key banking awards and memberships. Internationally, the Bank has opened its first Representative Office at DIFC, Dubai, and has plans to open a second Representative Office in Santiago, Chile, in 2017.
After obtaining his BSc (Hons) from University College London, Shawa began his banking career at Citigroup in 1997, where he held various management positions in corporate and private banking, working in the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. At Citigroup in Italy, Shawa was in charge of a team responsible for helping in the country’s transition from the Lira to the Euro. In 2005 he joined HSBC in Switzerland as a director of the group’s Middle East and North Africa business; his role was to develop the company’s private banking business in the Gulf and establish HSBC’s onshore presence in Kuwait.
Shawa is also the chairman of the boards of directors of Al-Wasata Securities Company and PalPay E-Payment Solutions Company. He is a member of the Emerging Markets Advisory Council at the International Institute of Finance Washington, DC, the Association of Banks in Palestine, and the board of Pharmacare Pharmaceuticals PLC. Shawa is a member of the board of trustees of Bethlehem University, the Palestine Studies Institute, and a Member of the World Economic Forum in Geneva.
Hashim Shawa was recognized as one of the 50 most influential leaders in finance and banking according to Global Finance Magazine in 2015 and best CEO in the Middle East by EMEA Finance for the year 2014.
