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Fakhruddin Khalil
One of the financial phenomena in New York City during the past few years has been the mushrooming growth in the number of Arab-owned banks - and there surely could be no one who better symbolizes this new Arab presence than Fakhruddin Khalil, senior executive vice-president of UBAF Arab American.
For one thing, Mr. Khalil has been around since the growth began, a mere seven years ago. As the senior Arab executive at UBAF since it opened its doors in 1976, he is the dean of Arab bankers in the city, just as his bank is the dean of the Arab banks.
Mr. Khalil's position as dean is strictly unofficial, of course, but his seniority was recognized by his peers early this year when he was installed as the first president of the newly-created Arab Bankers Association of North America.
A New Momentum
The creation of such an association is in itself a symbol of what has been happening. In New York there are now a score of Arab banking institutions that have set up offices. They range from full banking branches of such institutions as the Saudi International Bank, the United Bank of Kuwait and Jordan's Arab Bank, to representative offices that have been established by Bahrain's Trans Arabian Investment Bank, the Paris-based consortium Banque Arabe et Internationale...