Omar Haydar – GC Powerlist
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Middle East 2015

Financials

Omar Haydar

general counsel and secretary of the board of directors | Ibdar Bank, Bahrain

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Middle East 2015

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Omar Haydar

general counsel and secretary of the board of directors | Ibdar Bank, Bahrain

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‘A polished professional’ who has exceptional experience in the Middle East’s financial services sector, Omar Haydar is valued for his ‘communication’, ‘energy’ and work ethic. General counsel since 2010, he handled the integration of three separate legal departments, following the bank’s 2013 merger. He is also praised for his effective management of significant litigation and his efforts to change mindsets around risk management. ‘Being in-house, you are exposed to the full spectrum, from litigation, to advisory, to structuring, to labour issues’, Haydar says. ‘It keeps things interesting’. Making the business cognisant of the value legal brings, he admits, can sometimes be challenging in the region’s banking world. ‘I like to see thinking and innovation more than I like to see old archaic proven structures’, he says of outside counsel. ‘Doing the same thing 100 times doesn’t mean it’s the best thing, nor does it mean you should bill the same for the same routine’.

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