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Antoun Sehnaoui

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Antoun Sehnaoui
Sehnaoui in 2019
Born (1972-11-03) November 3, 1972 (age 52)
Beirut, Lebanon
Occupation(s)Banker, Philanthropist, Producer
Organization(s)Société Générale de Banque au Liban, Ezekiel Film Production
Known forBanking, Producing, Philanthropy
ChildrenMay Sehnaoui
Parents
  • Nabil Sehnaoui (father)
  • Princess May Chehab, great grand-daughter of Emir Bashir Shihab II (mother)
RelativesNicolas Sehnaoui (Cousin), Khalil Sehnaoui (Cousin), Mouna Bassili Sehnaoui (Aunt)
AwardsOscar Nominated movie producer
Websiteantounsehnaoui.com

Antoun Sehnaoui (born 3 November 1972) is a Lebanese banker and film producer,[1] He is the chairman of the board of the SGBL Group, comprising the Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL), the Société Générale de Banque in Jordan (SGBJ) and financial company Fidus Wealth Management.[2] He is also the chairman of the board of the Compagnie Financière Richelieu, a European banking group comprising Banque Richelieu France, Banque Richelieu Monaco and Richelieu Gestion.[3] He is also a member of the board of the Lebanese Banking Association,[4] and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[5]

Early life and education

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Sehnaoui was born in Beirut on November 3, 1972, to Nabil Sehnaoui and May Chehab Sehnaoui, the great-granddaughter of Emir Bashir Shihab II, who ruled Lebanon in the first half of the 19th century. He grew up in Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War and attended the Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour, then moved on to the United States where he graduated from the University of Southern California.[6]

Banking

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Sehnaoui suddenly became chairman of the SGBL Group in October 2007.[7] In 2011 SGBL acquired most of the assets of the Lebanese Canadian Bank[8][9] and in 2017 it expanded into the United Arab Emirates,[2] opening a fully owned subsidiary within the Abu Dhabi Global Market,[10] and into the USA market by acquiring Pikes Peak National Bank in Colorado.[11] SGBL is the third largest bank in Lebanon in terms of deposits and assets, and the fourth in terms of profitability.[12] Sehnaoui expanded into Europe in 2018 with the acquisition of Banque Richelieu in France and Monaco.[13][14][15]

Media

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In 1998, Sehnaoui created NewsMedia SAL, a publishing company[16] and then Executive, an independent business magazine for Lebanon and the GCC countries.[17] Executive is a publication concerning economic and financial matters across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.[18][19] In 2010, Executive became a member of the Business Publications Audit (BPA) Worldwide.[20] Yasser Akkaoui is the editor-in-chief of Executive.

Film production

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Sehnaoui is a partner in the production company "Rouge International" in collaboration with French actress and producer Julie Gayet,[21] and founded the production company "Ezekiel Film Production".[22] The movie Clouds of Sils Maria was released in 2014 and went on to receive over 25 awards nominations and 9 wins including the César Award for best supporting actress for Kristen Stewart.[23] The movie The Insult was released in 2017 and was selected as the Lebanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film[24][25] and was nominated in the category at the 90th Academy Awards.[26]

Philanthropy and sponsorships

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Sehnaoui supports the Beirut International Film Festival,[27] the Beirut Art Center, the French Book Fair and more than a dozen arts and cultural festivals a year. He agreed to lend an antique bed bought at auction at Bonhams of London to Ordsall Hall for a duration of five years.[28]

He is also a patron of Lebanese sports through a partnership with the National Basketball Federation[29] and by a US$7 million donation in 2017 for the financing of the new sports center of the Lebanese American University (LAU)[30]

Sehnaoui donated, in the name of his parents,[31] the Saint Charbel Makhlouf Shrine in St. Patrick's Cathedral (Manhattan) in New-York city that was inaugurated on October 28 of 2017. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi as well as Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.[32] The shrine features a mosaic of Saint Charbel Makhlouf along with national Lebanese emblems such as the lebanese cedar and a relic of the Saint.[33][34]

He is also a patron of animal rights activists.[35]

Controversy

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In 2015, Tarek Yatim, who is believed to be the bodyguard of Antoun Sehnaoui,[36][37][38] stabbed to death a Lebanese citizen, George Rif, during a road rage incident.[39] Sehnaoui denied any link between him and the case in question.[40][41][42]

News emerged about Sehnaoui, who is the chairman of the Société Générale de Banque au Liban group, that alleges that he had affiliation with the right-wing Christian party Jnoud al Rab and that he was providing funds for the group. Though he did not directly denying funding or sponsoring the group, he called the accusations "fabrications and false news".[43]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Nadine Labaki, Ziad Doueiri, Joelle Touma and Antoun Sehnaoui Receive Oscar Membership Invitations". NaharNet News Desk. NaharNet. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Banking on the Best". The Business Year. The Business Year, LLC. 2017. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  3. ^ "La Banque Privée KBL Richelieu Change De Mains". Solenn Poullennec. Les Echos. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Association of Banks in Lebanon Board members". ABL. Association of Banks in Lebanon. 30 July 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  5. ^ "10 Arab Filmmakers Become Oscar members". Egypt Today Staff. Egypt Today. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Executive Profile Antoun Nabil Sehnaoui". Bloomberg. Bloomberg L.P. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  7. ^ "SGBL – A new horizon". Executive Staff. NewsMedia SAL. 1 June 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  8. ^ "SGBL buys LCB assets". BusinessNews Staff. InfoPro SAL. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Beirut Bank Seen as a Hub of Hezbollah's Financing". Jo Becker. The New York Times Company. 13 December 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Antoun Sehnaoui and SGBL expand in U.S. and UAE". BusinessNews. InfoPro SAL. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  11. ^ "Lebanese banker buying Colorado Springs bank as launching point for U.S. expansion". Wayne Heilman. Colorado Springs Gazette. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  12. ^ "SGBL ranking rises to third in terms of assets in 2018". The Daily Star. The Daily Star. 23 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  13. ^ "SGBL Completes Acquisition of Banque Richelieu in France and Monaco". NaharNet NewsDesk. NaharNet. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Compagnie Financière Richelieu: Creation of a new major player". GBAF NewsDesk. GBAF Publications Ltd. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  15. ^ "La SGBL va acquérir deux établissements bancaires en Europe". OLJ. Commerce Du Levant. 5 December 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  16. ^ "Why Antoun Sehnaoui is at the Center of the Talk of Lebanon". Medium. Medium Corporation US. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  17. ^ "Once Upon A Magazine". Thomas Schellen. NewsMedia SAL. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  18. ^ Simona Sikimic (2 April 2010). "Executive magazine awarded for auditing transparency". The Daily Star. Beirut. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  19. ^ "What to read on Lebanon". The Economist. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  20. ^ Simona Sikimic (2 April 2010). "Executive magazine awarded for auditing transparency". The Daily Star. Beirut. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  21. ^ "Julie Gayet A l'Orient-Le-Jour". Michel Hajji Georgiou. L'Orient Le Jour. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  22. ^ "Les Promesses de L'Insulte". E.K. Le Commerce Du Levant. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  23. ^ Clouds Of Sils Maria
  24. ^ "الـ"قضية رقم 23" مرشحاً إلى الـ"أوسكار"... "يستحق أن يُسمّى لتمثيل لبنان"". An-Nahar. 6 September 2017. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  25. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (11 September 2017). "'The Insult' Director Ziad Doueiri Detained in Lebanon After Venice Win". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  26. ^ "Oscars 2018: The list of nominees in full". BBC News. BBC. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2004.
  27. ^ "The 2017 Beirut International Film Festival". wbuser. Beyond Art. 13 October 2017. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  28. ^ "Elizabethan bed 'bought for a princess' comes back to Ordsall Hall after 300 years". Naeal Keeling. M.E.N. Media. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  29. ^ "SGBL and Lebanese Basketball Federation Sign Partnership Agreement". NaharNet NewsDesk. NaharNet. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  30. ^ "LAU Breaks Ground On $7 Million Sports Center". LAU. Lebanese American University. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  31. ^ "Dedication of the Chapel of Saint Charbel". Joseph Zwilling and Mercedes Lopez Blancov. Saint Patrick's. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  32. ^ "Inauguration Historique Et Solennelle De La Chapelle Saint Charbel". Sylviane Zehil. L'Orient Le Jour. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  33. ^ "Saint Charbel Shrine Revealed in Prominent New-York Cathedral". DailyStar. The Daily Star. 29 October 2017. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  34. ^ "Shrine of Saint Charbel in the largest Catholic Cathedral in the United States". Grace H. The961. 29 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  35. ^ "Animal Rights Activists to the Rescue". Jeremy Arbid. NewsMedia S.A.L. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  36. ^ Battah, Habib (2015-07-17). "Should elites be held responsible for their bodyguards?". Beirut Report. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  37. ^ nabilhabiby89 (2015-07-18). "Why I am Against the Death Penalty for Tarek Yateem – لم أنا ضد عقوبة الإعدام لطارق يتيم". wherethevulturesgather. Retrieved 2021-03-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  38. ^ "The Middle East Times – International". www.mideast-times.com. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  39. ^ "Tarek Yatim sentenced to death for Rif murder". The Daily Star Newspaper – Lebanon. 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  40. ^ "L'odieux assassinat de Georges Rif. Tarek Yatim, un criminel au sang-froid". Magazine Le Mensuel. 2015-07-23. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  41. ^ "Assassinat Georges Rif : appels pressants pour que justice soit rendue". L'Orient-Le Jour. 2015-07-20. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  42. ^ "Après l'assassinat de Georges Rif, appels pour que la justice soit rendue". L'Orient-Le Jour. 2015-07-18. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  43. ^ "بعد التصاريح والمقالات الأخيرة حول مجموعة "جنود الرب" .. أنطون صحناوي: لا علاقة لنا تنظيمياً ولا تمويلياً بكل ما يُحكى عنه". aljadeed (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-01-09.
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