Khaled Shouman, a leading banker who was highly regarded for his ethical approach to business, passed away on June 30, 2001 and was buried on July 3, 2001. Khaled Shouman was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1931, after the establishment of the Arab Bank in Palestine by his father, Abdel Hamid Shouman.
His father was keen on raising his son to become an excellent banker who would manage the Arab Bank in the future. The younger Shouman subsequently studied banking at Saint George College in Jerusalem, Queen Victoria College in Egypt and Cambridge University in the UK.
Before returning to assume the management of the Arab Bank, along with his father and brother Abdel Majeed, Khaled worked for the British Midland Bank. In the course of his career at the Arab Bank, Shouman put the institution at the top of its field, helping to make it the largest privately-owned Arab banking group.
The Arab Bank celebrated the 70th anniversary of its establishment in 2000. The bank started operating in Jerusalem on July 14, 1930 and has since become one of the largest banking corporations, not only in the Arab world but also worldwide. The bank currently has 378 branches in different regions.
The Arab Bank’s policy over the past years has been distinguished by maintaining high levels of liquidity, a fact that has helped the institution pay its clients on time, despite turbulence and crises in the Middle East in particular, and the world in general.
The bank’s net profits rose 6.9 percent reaching $241.2 million in 2000, relative to $225.6 million in 1999. The bank’s assets rose above the $20 billion for the first time—amounting to $21.3 billion—and deposits increased 10.7 percent to $14.9 billion. ― (MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
