The eye of the storm
Interview with Michael Tomalin, Chief Executive, National Bank of Abu Dhabi.
The CEO of Abu Dhabi’s largest bank recounts his experience
at the epicentre of the financial crisis of September 2008.
“Well, I was actually in Washington DC at the time
for the IMF meeting. There was a very frenetic
atmosphere and there was a genuine fear as to what
might happen. I wasn’t talking directly to (Hank)
Paulson, but I was talking directly to very senior
people who were talking to him when we were
within hours of total meltdown. I was surprised to
see Lehman Bros. go under. When everybody saw
the fallout from that, it became apparent that we
were in the middle of a very serious storm and there
was al