The total number of banks operating in the UAE increased to 46 as of the end 2000 with the number of foreign banks dropping by one to 26, according to the UAE Central Bank.
The report, cited by the Gulf News, said that seven licenses were issued in 2000 for new representative offices, five in Dubai and two in Abu Dhabi.
One representative office in Dubai closed down.
The number of exchange houses in the UAE dropped to 100 by end 2000 compared to 105 in 1999.
While there was no change in the number of local banks, the number of branches and cash offices of these banks increased to 311 from 295 in 1999. Foreign bank branches and cash offices were 109 in 2000 as against 110 earlier, the report said.
Banca Commerciale Italiana continues to be the only restricted license bank in the country. The number of investment banks remained unchanged at two.
The number of licensed representative offices of foreign banks and other financial institutions in the country rose to 45 by end 2000 against 39 the previous year.
New representative offices licensed in 2000 are Housing Bank for Trade & Finance (Abu Dhabi), Templeton Worldwide Inc (Abu Dhabi), The Equitable Life Assurance Society, Scottish Widows International, Kuwait Interests for Financial Invest-ments, HSBC Bank Internat-ional and Royal Bank of Canada - all in Dubai – Albawaba.com
