Change is the dominant theme in The Banker’s 2018 Top 100 Arab Banks ranking. As markets in the Middle East and north Africa adjust to new economic realities, the region’s financial institutions are also experiencing something of a shake-up. First, a wave of consolidation is sweeping across a number of jurisdictions including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Second, the old vanguard of most profitable markets and their constituent lenders, predominantly among the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries, is being challenged by higher growth economies and banks in north Africa and the Levant.
These two trends are, to varying degrees, reflected in the outcome of the 2018 ranking. Scooping the top spot this year, for example, is First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), which is a product of the merger between the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank. This is the first time in the history of The Banker’s Top 100 Arab Banks ranking that an Emirati lender has reached the number one spot. This follows several years of dominance by Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank and, in more recent times, Qatar National Bank (QNB).
