UAE’s RAKBank to slash 250 jobs under restructuring plan

The National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (RAKBank), one of the largest banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will cut 250 jobs as part of a restructuring plan, making it the latest bank in the UAE to announce layoffs.

“RAKBANK revisited the organization structure of select departments and made changes where necessary to improve synergy and efficiency across the bank,” it said in a statement to Argaam.

There was no mention of when the measures would come into effect, or the divisions and departments that would be impacted.

A spokeswoman for the bank told Argaam that the number of layoffs and details of the plan are subject to change.

The news comes on the back of layoffs at several other UAE-based banks, including First Gulf Bank (FGB), as well as Standard Chartered Bank, BNP Paribas, and HSBC.

RAKBank, which is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), had revealed in October that its provisions rose 65 percent year-on-year (YOY) to AED 70.9 million for the first nine months of 2015. Third-quarter profit remained flat when compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

Write to Joumana Saad at joumana.saad@argaamplus.com