AUB signs up as Platinum Sponsor of Arab Banking Conference 2011

Press release

Published April 17th, 2011 - 09:08 GMT

Fahad Al-Rajaan, Chairman of Ahli United Bank

Ahli United Bank has announced its Platinum Sponsorship for the Arab Banking Conference which will convene this year in Doha, Qatar on 18 and 19 April 2011.

Jointly organized by the Union of Arab Banks and the World Union of Arab Bankers, this premier annual event of the Arab banking industry will be attended by Arab ministers of finance and economy, governors of central banks, leaders of the financial sector, investors and entrepreneurs from around the Arab world as well as from the international financial community. AUB will be well represented at the Conference with delegates from the Group’s 8 subsidiary and associate banks in the MENA region and the UK.

Held under the theme, “Towards an Arab Vision of Economic Reform,” this year’s conference aims at bringing together an elite assembly of experts and captains of the industry to discuss wide ranging issues relating to regional economic and financial reforms and to assess in depth the structural and regulatory changes needed in this context.

Fahad Al-Rajaan, Chairman of Ahli United Bank, commented, “We are pleased to have the opportunity to sponsor this prestigious event, which we hope will go along way towards formulating a consensus on a practical approach and recommendations for effecting the much needed financial reforms, paving the way to a stronger, more robust and more stable Arab banking industry, well equipped to face up to the prevailing challenges and better serve the financial needs of the region in the long term”.

Wissam Fattouh, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Banks, said:"We are proud to have AUB as a Platinum Sponsor of this year's conference. AUB has long been a leader and a visionary in advocating and implementing a pan-regional approach for capitalizing on opportunities and responding to the challenges of today’s increasingly interdependent markets, so we naturally look forward to hearing its privileged vantage point and contribution to the main topics on the conference’s agenda”.

Background Information

Ahli United Bank

Ahli United Bank BSC (AUB) is a full fledged commercial and investment banking group providing wealth management, retail, corporate, treasury, offshore and private banking services.

The Group's businesses consist of the operations in Bahrain, a wholly owned subsidiary in the UK and associates in Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Egypt and Iraq. In Kuwait, AUB has an effective holding of 75% in the Bank of Kuwait and The Middle East while in Qatar, AUB has a 40% stake in Ahli Bank QSC. In Oman, AUB has a 35% stake in Ahli Bank SAOG while in Iraq AUB has a 49% stake in the Commercial Bank of Iraq. In Egypt, AUB, its associate banks and other Gulf financial institutions together hold an 89.3% stake in Ahli United Bank SAE. Apart from these banks, AUB has a nominal stake of 75% in KMEFIC, a brokerage, asset management and corporate finance company based in Kuwait with operations around the Arabian Gulf.

Overall, the AUB Group, through its subsidiaries and associates, operates through a network of 93 branch offices and employs over 3,000 people.

AUB’s stated mission is to create an unrivalled ability to meet customer needs, provide fulfillment and development for staff and to deliver outstanding shareholder value. AUB’s strategy is to expand through both organic growth and acquisition in order to act as a ‘multifaceted financial bridge’ between the international financial markets and its Gulf clients. It has sought to establish an operating presence in each of the Pan-GCC countries with a targeted 10% - 20% market share. To this end, AUB continues to develop and invest to increase its ability to acquire new businesses and rapidly integrate them with the bank’s systems. This development has helped accelerate progress in the delivery of financial services and penetration into targeted geographical markets.