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Abu Dhabi, May 23: An Interpol arrest warrant has been issued for the chief executive of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. “This is a personal matter linked to his personal divorce case and is not linked in any way to the bank’s activities,” the bank said in a statement. The capital’s third-largest bank said it supported Eirvin Knox, a 59-year-old American, who has headed ADCB since 2003.

The warrant was issued in the Philippines, where Knox once worked as the head of a major bank, and relates to “a violation of an early 2004 (Philippine) act pertaining to violence against women and their children,” Interpol sources said. The Interpol warrant is classified as a “red notice” which seeks the arrest of a wanted person with a view to extradition, they said.

“He was married to a Filipina and she is a very well connected person,” a senior official at ADCB said. ADCB said Abu Dhabi courts had already ruled in favour of Knox and the “current matter is linked to the implementation of a sentence between him and his divorcee”.

Knox did not respond immediately to calls for comment. The UAE Interior Ministry and police officials declined to comment. Knox joined ADCB having come from Ahli Bank of Kuwait, according to a biography on the Global Real Estate web site.  He was a country chief executive for 24 years with Standard Chartered Bank and Continental Bank of Chicago, having started his career in the United States with earlier assignments including Wells Fargo Bank and Continental Bank, the web site said.

According to World Trade Markets country guide, which contains information provided by the US Department of Commerce, Knox was previously the chief executive of Standard Chartered in the Philippines. Since joining the bank in 2003, Knox has overseen a near 400 per cent growth in net profit to dhs1.98 billion ($539 million) last year from 405 million in 2003.