We were expecting the appointment of a new central bank governor this week, but it seems the decision will be postponed until at least next week. Several candidates have been proposed for the position, and the competition is shaping up to be fierce. The stakes are incredibly high, with various factions backing their preferred candidates and putting significant pressure on the process.

Meet the candidates:

Camille Abou Sleiman:

Abou Sleiman was the Minister of Labor from 2019 to 2020. He holds a Master’s degree in Law from Harvard University and has over 30 years of experience in consulting for emerging markets and has worked as a lawyer in this field. He is recognized for his expertise in finance and governance.

Firas Abi-Nassif:

Abi Nassif holds a degree in Computer and Telecommunications Engineering from the American University of Beirut, a Master’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Northeastern University in the United States, and an MBA with a focus on finance. He currently heads an investment firm and has an extensive experience in hedge funds and investment banking services.

Abi-Nassif is a co-founder and partner at Teleios Capital, an activist hedge fund based in Switzerland with assets exceeding one billion dollars.

Karim Souaid:

Souaid holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Harvard University and executive diplomas from Harvard Business School in business valuation and restructuring. He is the founder and Managing Partner of Growthgate Partners. Souaid has led several privatization mandates in the Middle East.

Philippe Jabre:

Jabr holds a degree in Economics from Concordia University in Montreal and an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York. He owns Jabre Capital Partners, a wealth management firm based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is also the Chairman of the Board of Almaza.

Jabre was once one of Europe’s best-known hedge fund traders and carved out a reputation as a star manager at London-based hedge fund GLG Partners, where he ran as much as $7bn. [Source]

These are the leading candidates, but there are other serious contenders such as:

– Jihad Azour: Former Minister of Finance & IMF Director.
– Samir Assaf: a Lebanese businessman & senior advisor to HSBC’s Group Chairman & Group CEO the bank’s business, and non-executive chairman of the boards of HSBC Bank Middle East Limited and HSBC Middle East Holdings.
– Issam Abou Sleiman: World Bank Director for Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru, Latin America and Caribbean.