DUBAI, March 5 (Reuters) - First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

is planning to split its operations into four new

divisions in a bid to strengthen its business in the Gulf and

boost shareholder returns, two sources familiar with the matter

said.

As part of the reorganisation, FAB is set to hire Citi

dealmaking veteran Linos Lekkas as its new head of investment

banking, the sources said.

The restructuring at the United Arab Emirates' biggest bank

by assets is the latest move by CEO Hana Al Rostamani as she

tries to foster faster growth at the lender and follows a number

of senior management departures in recent years.

FAB declined to comment, while Lekkas was not immediately

available for comment.

The four new divisions, formed from a current five, will be:

investment banking and markets; wholesale banking; international

banking; and personal, wealth and business banking.

Martin Tricaud, the current investment banking head, will

move to lead wholesale banking, the sources said, speaking on

the condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to

speak with media.

Bloomberg first reported the bank's reorganisation plans,

citing a memo to staff.

FAB, headed by Al Rostamani since 2021, has seen a series of

senior management departures. In January, Reuters reported that

its head of global markets, Sameh Al Qubaisi, and its chief

operating officer, Suhail Bin Tarraf, were set to leave the

lender.

The bank's head of mergers and acquisitions and corporate

development, Eric Shehadeh, who was hired in mid-2023, left

after less than a year in the job.

FAB has been seeking to expand including outside of the

Gulf. Two years ago it said it had considered a bid for

London-listed Standard Chartered ( SCBFF ).

(Writing by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes

and Philippa Fletcher)