The announcement came in a statement posted on the website of Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The statement said Saleh’s appointment was with immediate effect. It gave no reason for the change, and did not say where al Tayer was going.
Saleh has been chairman of the Dubai Financial Services Authority for the past four years, and is also a former chairman of the National Bank of Dubai (NBD), of which he was a co-founder, press reports noted.
Al Tayer was replaced as chairman of Emirates NBD last month by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, an uncle and adviser of Sheikh Mohammed.
The DIFC is a financial free zone which was opened in 2004, as part of an effort to encourage economic growth and development throughout the region. A key element in its creation was a promise of regulatory independence by Sheikh Mohammed.
As reported, Al Tayer took over the top job at the DIFC in November 2009, in what was described at the time as a strategic repositioning related to financial issues that were causing concern in the emirate at the time. He succeeded Omar Bin Sulaiman, who had been governor of the centre since it had opened its doors five years before. Sheikh Mohammed was said to be behind that move as well.
Last week,it was reported that the DIFC contributed 1% of the GDP of the United Arab Emirates last year, and around 3.6% of Dubai’s GDP.
