Ajman Bank Appoints New Chief of Audit

Ajman Bank has announced the appointment of Mr. Majdi H. Darwish as its new Chief of Audit. Mr. Darwish has over 22 years of outstanding experience in the industry working with some of the most prestigious organizations including multi-national financial corporations.

Mr. Mohamed Amiri, Chief Executive Officer, Ajman Bank, stated, “We are delighted to welcome Mr. Darwish to our team. In his capacity he will work closely with senior management, in particular, the audit committee members and regulators, to identify current and emerging risks, ensuring the safety and soundness of the organization. We are confident with his vast experience and strong track record in the banking and financial sector, Mr. Darwish will be instrumental in leading high-level policies related to risk and compliance practices.”

During the course of his illustrious career, Mr. Darwish held many exciting and challenging leadership roles. From 1997 to March 2001 he was the Senior Auditor at Ernst & Young. In 2012 he moved to the UAE to take up the position of the Vice President – Head of Operations, Investment and Credit Audit and acting Deputy Chief Audit Executive at the Sharjah Islamic Bank – a post he held until recently.

Mr. Majdi stated that it is a great honor to join Ajman Bank family and expressed his gratitude to the bank’s Board of Directors and executive management for the great confidence and support received since joining the bank.

He highlighted the current challenges and emerging risks faced by the banks in light of technological advancement, cybersecurity, changes in governance  and the growing interest by UAE Central Bank in the roles of defense lines represented by compliance, risk management, internal audit to protect the banking system. Accordingly, it is imperative for internal audit to change their methodology and play a greater role in supporting the Board of Directors and executive management by enhancing the control environment, governance and evaluating the effectiveness of risk management policies adopted by the Banks in order to protect the interests of shareholders, customers and other stakeholders.

Mr. Darwish has worked in number of environments to assess processes and procedures, determine appropriate controls, provide control gap analysis and make recommendations for remediation. Throughout his career, he has focused on process re-engineering within the risks and control functions while delivering complex global initiatives that have positively transformed systems.

Mr. Darwish is a Certified Public Accountant – CPA (USA), AICPA Board California and Guam; Certified Internal Auditor – CIA (USA), IIA Board; Certified Fraud Examiner – CFE (USA), ACFE Board; Certified Risk Professional – CRP (USA); Certified Bank Auditor – CBA (USA); and a Certified Internal Control Auditor – CICA (USA). He is also a Certified Instructor by Morgan International for CPA training programs, CIA, CMA and CFE.