Alex Thursby stepped down early as group CEO of NBAD as the bank plans to merge with FGB. Thursby’s departure comes after more than three years in the role as CEO of NBAD. Abhjit Chaoudhury, NBAD’s group chief risk officer, takes over as acting CEO with immediate effect. The CEOs of both the banks were meant to continue in their roles until the merger was completed in the first quarter of 2017, after which FGB managing director Abdulhamid Saeed was slated to become the new CEO. Choudhury will work closely with Deputy Group CEO Abdulla MS Abdul Raheem to lead the bank until the merger’s completion. Khalifa Sultan Al Suwaidi, a member of NBAD’s board of directors, will take on the newly created position of managing director to support the bank through the integration planning process. (Bloomberg)   NBAD: AED9.55 as of 15 August 2016, Rating: Neutral, FV: AED9.00 per share, MCap: USD13,557mn, NBAD UH / NBAD.AD