Lebanon’s Banque Europenne pour le Moyen-Orient (BEMO) has acquired 22 percent of the Syrian BEMO-Al Saudi Al-Faransi Bank for a total amount of 330 million Syrian pounds ($6.4 million), reported BlomIvest.
Earlier this year, BEMO was awarded a license to open a privately owned banking institution in Syria on condition that Syrian investors would hold 51 percent of the shares. Riyadh-based Bank Al-Saudi Al-Faransi holds the remaining 27 percent stake.
Nationalized in 1963, Syria’s banking sector has been lined up for liberalization by President Bashar Al-Assad. The Syrian government authorized five private Arab banks to open shop in the country last year, including Lebanon's Banque du Liban Et D'Outre Mer (BLOM) and Jordan's Arab Bank. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
