The strength of Middle Eastern lenders is once again underscored in 2015’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking. Most of the region’s leading institutions, particularly from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region, have jumped up the global rankings following a year of extensive capital strengthening. The dominance of Gulf institutions in the top 25 regional list has increased from 2014's ranking, with just four banks hailing from outside the GCC.
Eight Saudi lenders are present in the Middle Eastern top 25, with National Commercial Bank once again taking the top spot. Yet this year, however, the gap to second place has narrowed appreciably. Qatar National Bank (QNB) has jumped from seventh place in the 2014 ranking to number two, and had fallen just shy of the number one spot. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank climbed three places in the 2015 ranking to reach third in the regional top 25, while Emirates NBD and Samba Financial Group rounded out the top five to take fourth and fifth, respectively. Elsewhere, Banque Saudi Fransi and the Saudi British Bank both gained ground from 2014’s ranking, reaching a respective 12th and 13th in the 2015 ranking, an improvement of two places for both institutions.
