Our Speakers: Fouad N. Trad — A Global Perspective from a Board Member, Strategic Advisor, and Trade Finance Expert
Fouad is a long-standing member of the Lebanese Experts Forum. We had the pleasure of welcoming him in 2013 and again in 2016, and he has remained one of our most loyal contributors over the years.
It is a real pleasure and an honor to have him with us again today.
Fouad N. Trad joined Banque Indosuez in 1988 and spent more than 20 years within the Crédit Agricole Group, France’s largest banking group, where he held senior leadership positions in Paris, Beirut, Bahrain, and Dubai.
Over the course of his career, he has held several senior roles, including Senior Corporate Banker in charge of the European food sector, Assistant General Manager of Banque Française de l’Orient, in charge of commercial development, and later Founder and General Manager of a regulated financial company specialized in Project Financeand Export Credit Financing, where he played a key role in financing Lebanon’s post-war reconstruction infrastructure projects.
He also led the Financial Institutions Group, covering Middle Eastern banks and sovereigns, with a strong focus on syndications and global markets, before becoming Global Head of Wealth Management for the Middle East, leading teams in Geneva, Zurich, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. In this role, he notably led the establishment of Indosuez Wealth Management in the DIFC.
In 2009, Fouad joined BBE as President of the Executive Committee and CEO of a pan-European Belgian commercial bank (Brussels, Paris, London) specialized in Trade Finance and Correspondent Banking. Over 12 years, he diversified the business and funding base, optimized operations, and supported successful expansion into Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
In 2023, he became Special Advisor to First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), helping structure an innovative African strategy. In 2024, he joined PwC Strategy& as a Financial Services Expert, contributing to strategic reviews and bank remediation assignments across the Arab world.
Fouad was also appointed by the Lebanese Council of Ministers as a board member of the Beirut Stock Exchange. He later joined IPEMED as Vice Chairman of the Board. He currently serves as a non-executive board member of two regulated banks: FFA Private Bank (DIFC, Dubai) and I&C Bank (Beirut).
He holds a degree in Finance from Northeastern University.
With Fouad, I am sure we will get a truly global perspective — that of a board member, strategic advisor, and trade finance expert — enriched by his open-mindedness and his deep understanding of Lebanon’s culture and challenges.
