The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was named the Bank of the Year for 2002 in the Middle East for the second consecutive year by The Banker, an international Financial Times’ business magazine. NBK was also awarded the ‘Best Bank in Kuwait’ title together with Gulf Bank.
An executive from the magazine attributed this achievement to NBK's diversified earning base, financial strength and growing regional influence. In investment banking, NBK, the largest financial institution in Kuwait, is one of the only Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banks capable of structuring and underwriting large regional capital markets transactions, he said.
NBK reported a net profit of $188 million for first half of 2002 despite an extremely challenging environment. NBK has long been distinguished by having the highest financial strength rating among all Arab as well as Emerging Market Banks from international rating agencies including Moody's, Standard & Poor's and FitchRatings.
In July, FitchRatings upgraded the long term foreign currency rating of NBK to A+, following another upgrade by Moody's to A2 in May.
National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) was founded in 1952 as the first indigenous bank and the first joint stock company in Kuwait and the Gulf. It is by far the largest financial institution in Kuwait with effective market dominance in the commercial banking market.
NBK‘s international network includes branches, subsidiaries and representative offices in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Bahrain, Beirut, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand, with other ambitious plans for regional expansion. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
