Mr. Zubyr Soomro has been a career international banker with 33 years at Citibank and senior level assignments in the Middle East, Turkey, UK and Pakistan. In 1997, he was appointed as Chairman and President of United Bank and tasked with restructuring it for privatization after which he re-joined Citibank’s Pakistan franchise as its Managing Director. He was awarded the Quaid-e-Azam Centenary Gold Medal by the State Bank of Pakistan in 2004 for leading reforms in the banking sector in his role as Chairman of the Pakistan Banks Association and his successful restructuring of United Bank. In recognition of this he was invited to speak by the World Bank in Washington D.C., the IMF in Egypt and the IFC in Bangladesh on the restructuring of public sector banks.

Over the last 20 years, Mr. Soomro, has also been actively involved in financial inclusion and poverty alleviation and was the Chairman of the Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company, the apex entity for the sector and majority owned by UK and German Government related entities. He has served on the boards of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, LUMS, the National Education Management Foundation, LRBT. Aitchison College, Acumen Pakistan and the US based, Grameen Foundation and the Indus Velley School of Arts & Architecture.

He has twice served on the Government’s Economic Advisory Council (1997 – 1999 and 2013 – 2018), been a member of the board of the State Bank of Pakistan, and on the policy board of the Security & Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the board of the National Investment Trust, Chairman of the Board of the Karachi Stock Exchange, President of the Overseas Chamber of Commerce & Industry and President of the American Business Council.

Mr. Zubyr Soomro has a BSc Hons from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a Masters from the School of Oriental and African Studies (London University). He has also attended executive programs at the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School. He received extensive formal training in key areas of commercial, investment and private banking within Pakistan and globally while at Citibank.

Other current directorships & offices include:

• Board Member, EFG Hermes, Cairo.
• Board Member of Sarmaya Pakistan, Chairman Nomination Committee.