Q: Kuwait Finance House [KFH] shareholders approved the acquisition of Bahrain’s Ahli United Bank [AUB] in January. What was the origin of the deal?
A: Around the middle of 2015, KFH’s board looked at the group’s return on equity and assets, and asked for our projections for the coming three years. Following this, the board said we needed to find a way to boost our income and increase our international presence, while diversifying our risk profile away from Kuwait and Turkey.