AHLI UNITED BANK RANKED ‘BEST BANK IN BAHRAIN’ BY EUROMONEY MAGAZINE
Ahli United Bank B.S.C. (AUB), one of the region’s leading banking institutions, has been named “Best Bank in Bahrain” for 2006 by Euromoney magazine. The award was presented to the bank at the 2006 Euromoney Awards for Excellence Middle East Dinner held in Doha, Qatar.
AUB was praised by the renowned international finance magazine for its “full range of financial services, including retail, corporate, treasury, investment and private banking across the Gulf.”
One of the key factors in selecting this year’s winners was the ability of financial institutions to demonstrate and execute a strategy of further integration. Euromoney commended AUB on their performance last year, “Ahli United Bank was a clear winner of this award as it has continued its bold and pioneering strategy to create a bank with a strong regional presence through mergers and acquisitions.”
Now in its 14th consecutive year the Euromoney Awards for Excellence are regarded as the benchmark awards for financial services globally. This year’s awards process, which began in April, attracted over 100 submissions from the region’s banks and brokerage houses competing for the 26 Euromoney Excellence awards.
Euromoney’s dedicated research team and awards panel rated all the submissions on both quantitative and qualitative factors such as key performance indicators (KPI’s), financial ratios, deal volume and innovation over the 12 month period to decide the award winners.
“Receiving the ‘Best Bank in Bahrain’ award verifies the confidence our customers have in us as a trusted, financial institution. We have a strong and ongoing commitment to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers and provide the best possible customer service available, “ said Fahad Al-Rajaan, Chairman of Ahli United Bank.
At the beginning of this year, Euromoney honoured the bank with two accolades: Best Local Private Bank in Bahrain and the Best Private Bank for Real Estate Investment in Bahrain. Earlier in the year, AUB was awarded the Best Bank Middle East and Africa 2006 award by Global Finance.
Mr. Al-Rajaan concluded “This award is a further endorsement of the sound management principles and strategic direction of AUB as it relates to our successful activities in the Bahrain market which are an integral part of our regional aspirations.”
Last year, AUB strengthened its presence in Kuwait by increasing its stake in the Bank of Kuwait and the Middle East to 75%. Its other recent significant achievement include the acquisition of 49% stake in the Commercial Bank of Iraq.