FNB fails to block trademark application by UAE’s top bank
FirstRand has tried in vain to bar United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) largest bank by assets, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), from applying for a trade name under the FAB banner, failing to convince the court that the trademark application infringes that of its subsidiary, FNB.
SA’s most valuable banking group suffered a further blow after the high court in Pretoria rejected its leave to appeal the decision it made in 2023 that found that FAB trademark does infringe that of FNB.
The judge found that FNB, through parent company FirstRand, was merely trying to cut out competition with its application to stop the FAB trademark.
The trademark FAB has applied for falls in the category of banking services, telebanking services, mobile banking services, home banking services, business banking information, financial liquidation services, capital investment services, insurance underwriting and financing loans, among others.
FirstRand would now have to petition the Supreme Court of Appeal to hear the matter if it is not satisfied with the high court’s findings. The group and FNB did not respond to requests to comment.
FAB recently reported a 63% surge in its fourth-quarter net income, as revenue rose and impairment charges fell amid continuing economic momentum in the UAE.
Formed from the merger of National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank in 2017, FAB is roughly half-owned by sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment and members of the emirate’s ruling family. Mubadala, which has $276bn in assets under management, owns 37.9% of FAB and the Abu Dhabi ruling family has a 15.8% stake in the lender.
FAB is listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange and is valued at about $51bn, making it one of the largest constituents on the exchange.
FAB, according to its latest results, has $318bn assets, making it the second-biggest lender in the Middle East, behind Qatar National Bank, according to data from S&P Global.
The lender, which was previously linked with a takeover bid of British multinational bank Standard Chartered, has declined to comment on its intention for the SA market as it forges ahead with the trademark application.
Makwe Masilela of Makwe Fund Managers said it was hard to gauge the thinking behind FAB’s trademark application.
“Sometimes companies with healthy balance sheets can open and maintain a branch or satellite office which is not profitable but for the sake of presence and recognition of their brand. But with FAB I think they’re looking forward to the days when the Africa free trade agreement starts picking up momentum,” Masilela said.
“Also SA might end up as their regional office as they are maybe using it as a way to infiltrate the continent, which is still the last frontier but was forgotten because of Covid as many companies had to shelve their expansion plans.”
FAB’s sister group, International Resources Holding (IRH), recently outbid Sibanye-Stillwater as the strategic equity partner for Zambia’s Mopani Copper Mine in a $1bn deal.
RMB has said it expected more such deals to come to the fore as state-linked Middle East firms looked for green metal opportunities in Africa as part of their efforts to diversify their income streams from oil.
IRH and FAB are both chaired by a senior member of the ruling family, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
Nahyan, who is also the UAE’s national security adviser and deputy ruler, was in 2023 appointed as chair of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the main sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital. It is said to manage assets north of $800bn.
FAB in 2023 r appointed SAborn banker Lars Kramer as CFO. Kramer, who was educated at the University of Cape Town, joined FAB from Netherlands-based ABN Amro, where he had been finance director since June 2021. He was previously CFO at Hellenic Bank.