37. Arshad Ghafur
Company: Bank of America
Designation: President—MENA
Nationality: British
Global Headquarters: U.S.
Sector: Banking and Financial Services
Ghafur joined Bank of America as president for the MENA region in 2012. The bank advised Oman’s OQ Gas Networks on its nearly $800 million gas pipeline IPO in 2023, and it advised Spinneys on its listing on the Dubai Financial Market this year, which was oversubscribed in aggregate by 64 times. Ghafur sits on the DIFC Higher Board and the Board of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council. Ghafur previously spent 15 years at Lehman Brothers/Nomura Holdings, where he was head of investment banking for MEA and CEO for Qatar.