Eight Kuwaiti banks among world’s big 1,000: UAB chief

BEIRUT, July 26, (KUNA): Some eight Kuwaiti banks have maintained their status among the world’s biggest 1,000 in 2015, in the first category of capital, the Union of Arab Banks (UAB) Secretary General Wissam Fattouh has said.

According to an analytical study conducted by the UAB, based on data published by The Banker magazine, there are 85 Arab banks among the world’s top 1,000 in terms of the first category of capital, Fattouh told KUNA on Tuesday.

The eight banks, respectively as on the list, are the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the Kuwait Finance House, Burgan Bank, the Gulf Bank, the Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, the Kuwait International Bank and the Industrial Bank of Kuwait, the UAB chief said.

Fattouh noted that the NBK had made remarkable progress on the list moving from the rank of 189 in 2014 to 168 in 2015.

The criteria of the first class banks manifest their strength and ability to withstand shocks, in line with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, he said.

The figures comprised by the UBA study show that the capital of the eight banks rose from $21.254 billion in 2014 to $22.454 a year later. Their assets hit $210.659 billion.

According to the study, the Arab banking sector has achieved steady growth over the past years, with assets increasing to $3.3 trillion in 2015, and deposits of $2.1 trillion.