Al-Mubarak, who has been appointed as head of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), comes from outside the central bank and is a private-sector, market-focused figure.

He replaces well-respected Muhammad Al-Jasser. 

Al-Jasser, who took office in February 2009, was a long-term government official and central bank insider who began his career at the finance ministry in 1981, and served as the central bank's vice governor for almost 15 years. 

Al-Mubarak was previously chairman and managing director of Morgan Stanley Saudi Arabia, and has worked in management positions relating to investment management and corporate finance advisory services.

He has also held the position of chairman of the Saudi stock exchange. 

Analysts said Al-Mubarak's appointment may indicate a desire by the authorities to help the central bank deal with market reforms. 

"We could not have worked with a better person in Saudi Arabia who understands the Wall Street culture like he does his home country," said one banker who worked with Mubarak at Morgan Stanley. 

Another person who used to work with Mubarak said he had "an international way of thinking". 

Saudi Arabia has been considering a wider opening of its stock market, the biggest in the Gulf, for several years; currently, foreigners have only very limited opportunities to invest through indirect ownership and exchange traded funds that track indexes. 

The central bank could play an important role in any opening of the market because it would likely be involved in monitoring and regulating capital flows into and out of the country. 

Al-Mubarak will head an institution which holds Saudi Arabia's massive foreign assets; SAMA possessed $518 billion in net foreign assets in October, according to the latest data. 

The finance ministry sets policy for investing the country's oil wealth, analysts said. 

"Any of the appointed officials will stick to the general policy of the country. I don't think that the person's personality will reflect on the position," said Talaat Hafez, a member of the Saudi Economic Association, a business group. 

"He can develop and improve, but there is an overall policy that they stick to..." 

However, Al-Mubarak will to some extent be a financial diplomat for Saudi Arabia, and his background appears to make him well-suited for this role.

Earlier this month, he spoke at a Saudi-US business forum in Atlanta entitled "Maintaining a Stable Global Financial System: Shared Responsibility", where he was quoted as saying that oil giant Saudi Aramco's huge investments in the petroleum industry would ensure global energy stability. 

Al-Mubarak, who is from Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, played a role in the privatization of Saudi Telecom, according to a brief biography provided by Morgan Stanley.

He was also a member of the team which discussed the partial privatisation of Saudi Arabia's National Gas Industry with international oil companies. 

He served as a member of the Shoura Council, a consultative body which advises the government on legislative matters, for six years during which he was the vice chairman of its economic and energy committee. 

Al-Mubarak holds a doctorate of philosophy degree in business administration from the University of Houston in Texas; he also has a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and master's degrees in business administration, engineering management, and accountancy and taxation.