Varun Sood, the current chief executive of Tamweel’s home finance division will be acting chief executive, the firm said at its annual general meeting in Dubai.

Saifi was appointed chief executive in February 2008 having previously served as chairman of Tamweel’s Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Saifi could not be reached for comment.

Tamweel, in which Dubai Islamic Bank took a majority stake in September, said it will appoint a new chairman to replace Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al-Nahyan “soon.”

Dubai Islamic Bank raised its stake in September to 57.33 percent, effectively rendering Tamweel a subsidiary of DIB, in a move that was expected to help revive lending in Dubai’s property market.

The United Arab Emirates government said in November 2008 it intended to merge Tamweel and rival Islamic mortgage lender Amlak Shares in the two have not traded since.

Sheikh Khaled said on Sunday its shares should resume trading soon, adding he expects the company to book 100 million dirhams of home loans each month.

Tamweel’s third quarter net profit fell 29 percent to 7.34 million dirhams it said on Tuesday, as income fell from Islamic financing and investing assets.