For the first time in the history of The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking, Qatar National Bank (QNB) has topped the regional table for the Middle East with $17.2bn in Tier 1 capital. This comes after the Qatari lender progressively narrowed the gap with Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank, the long-time regional leader, over the past few years. QNB’s stellar growth has seen the bank emerge as a true giant in the Middle East and Africa region following a series of ambitious acquisitions including Société Générale’s Egyptian business in 2013, a stake in pan-African lender Ecobank in 2014 and Turkey’s Finansbank in 2016.
The remaining top five Middle Eastern lenders are the same as in the 2016 rankings. However, the headline merger of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and FGB, two of Abu Dhabi’s largest banks, has not been taken into account in this year’s edition as it fell outside of the review period. Though the two banks occupy fifth and ninth positions, respectively, the rebranded entity, known as First Abu Dhabi Bank, may well rise in the rankings in 2018.
Outside the Gulf Co-operation Council, Bank Leumi le-Israel has climbed the Middle East table from 13th place in 2016's rankings to 10th this year. Jordan’s Arab Bank has also risen, climbing to 18th place in the regional table from 21st in last year's rankings.
The Middle East’s highest movers table is dominated by banks from the United Arab Emirates. Three of its lenders have made the top 10, including Ajman Bank and Noor Bank in the top two spots. The remaining entries include two banks from Bahrain, two from Qatar and one each from Oman, Jordan and Lebanon. It is notable that five of the 10 highest movers are sharia-compliant institutions. In this regard, Dubai Islamic Bank is the only institution to be both a highest mover and in the top 25 regional table, and has posted a 31% increase in its Tier 1 capital.
Meanwhile, the top five banks by return on capital include two Lebanese banks at the summit. Blom Bank, in first place, reported return on capital of 23.75%. Bank Audi, the country’s largest lender by total assets, comes in a close second with 22.8%.
