British Arab Commercial Bank

Last updated
British Arab Commercial Bank PLC
Company type Public limited company
Industry Banking, Financial services
Founded
  • First established in 1972 as UBAF Limited
  • Renamed British Arab Commercial Bank in 1996
Headquarters London, England, UK
Area served
Middle East & Africa
Key people
Dr Yousef Abdullah Al Awadi KBE [1]
(Group Chairman)
Paul Jennings [2]
(Group Chief Executive)
Services Trade finance, lending and structured finance, treasury, real estate lending
RevenueIncrease2.svg £57.4 million (2023) [3]
Increase2.svg£87.9 million (2023) [3]
Increase2.svg£27.9 million (2023) [3]
Total assets Decrease2.svg£3.0 billion (2023) [3]
Total equity Increase2.svg£233 million (2023) [3]
Number of employees
Decrease2.svg 195 (2022) [4]
Website www.bacb.co.uk

The British Arab Commercial Bank PLC (BACB) is an international wholesale bank incorporated in the United Kingdom that is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the PRA and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It was founded in 1972 as UBAF Limited, adopted its current name in 1996, and registered as a public limited company in 2009. The bank has clients trading in and out of developing markets in the Middle East and Africa.

Contents

BACB has a head office in London, and three representative offices in Algiers in Algeria, Tripoli in Libya and Abidjan in the Cote D'Ivoire. The bank has 17 sister banks across Europe, Asia and Africa. It is owned by three main shareholders - the Libyan Foreign Bank (87.80%), Banque Centrale Populaire (6.10%) and Banque Extérieure d'Algérie (6.10%). [5]

The bank provides services of trade finance, treasury, real estate lending, banking and payment services, and asset distribution and syndication. The current Chairman is Dr Yousef Abdullah Al Awadi, and the current Chief Executive Officer is Paul Jennings.

History

Origins

The bank was founded in 1972 as UBAF Limited and changed its name to UBAF Bank Limited in 1977. It began as an affiliate of Midland Bank, and became an affiliate of HSBC when HSBC took over Midland Bank in 1992. The bank adopted the name British Arab Commercial Bank in 1996.

Since 2009

In 2009, Commercial Bank of Egypt sold its 8% stake. At the time, the other shareholders were HSBC (49%), Libyan Foreign Bank (26%), Bank Al-Maghrib (8%), and Banque Extérieure d’Algérie (8%). Banque Centrale Populaire eventually bought out Bank Al-Maghrib and thus gained a stake in BACB.

In 2010, HSBC sold its 49% shareholding to the Libyan Foreign Bank ("LFB"), a subsidiary of the Central Bank of Libya ("CBL"). Its share is 87.80%, with the other shareholders being Banque Centrale Populaire (6.10%), and Banque Extérieure d’Algérie (6.10%). [5] On 2 June 2009, the Bank changed its corporate status from that of a private to a public company.

In 2016, the bank opened a new representative office in Abidjan, to add to its existing representative offices in Algiers, and in Tripoli. [6] [7]

Operating area

Africa

BACB aims to facilitate cross-border trade through a sustainable revenue base with its chosen clients and markets.[ citation needed ] The bank is known for dealing with markets with which larger banks are often hesitant to do business, such as Middle Eastern and North African markets.[ citation needed ] The bank serves the rest of the African continent through relationships with a number of financial institutions and correspondent banks, particularly in Nigeria and Ghana.

Europe

While the majority of the bank's clients are African and Middle Eastern companies and institutions, working with them brings it into regular contact with European exporters and importers. The bank also has sister banks in European countries, including Spain, Italy and France.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HSBC Continental Europe</span>

HSBC Continental Europe, known until December 2020 as HSBC France SA, is a subsidiary of HSBC, headquartered in Paris.

Libyan Foreign Bank (LFB) was established in 1972 in Tripoli, Libya as Libyan Arab Foreign Bank; it was renamed Libyan Foreign Bank in 2005. It was Libya's first offshore banking institution licensed to operate internationally. The Central Bank of Libya owns 100% of LFB. The head office is located in Libya's capital Tripoli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banque Misr</span> Egyptian bank co-founded by industrialist Joseph Cattaui and Talaat Harb in 1920

Banque Misr is an Egyptian bank co-founded by industrialist Joseph Aslan Cattaui Pasha and economist Talaat Harb Pasha in 1920. The government of the United Arab Republic nationalized the bank in 1960. The bank has branch offices in all of Egypt's governorates, and currency exchange and work permit offices for foreign workers in Egypt.

The Sahara Bank is a Libyan commercial bank, established in 1964. The bank performs retail and corporate banking operations and its head office is located in Tripoli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groupe Banque Populaire</span>

Banque Populaire was a French group of cooperative banks, with origins in the European cooperative movement. In 2009, it merged with Groupe Caisse d'Épargne to form Groupe BPCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecobank</span> Pan-African banking conglomerate

Ecobank, whose official name is Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI), is a pan-African banking conglomerate, with banking operations in 33 African countries. It is the leading independent regional banking group in West Africa and Central Africa, serving wholesale and retail customers. It also maintains subsidiaries in Eastern and Southern Africa. ETI has an affiliate in France, and representative offices in China, Dubai, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

BPR Bank Rwanda PLC, formerly Banque Populaire du Rwanda SA, is a commercial bank in Rwanda. The bank is licensed by the National Bank of Rwanda, the central bank and national banking regulator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equity Bank Kenya Limited</span> Financial services provider

Equity Bank Kenya Limited is a Kenyan bank and financial services provider headquartered in Nairobi providing retail banking and commercial banking services. The bank is licensed as a commercial bank by the Central Bank of Kenya, which is the national banking regulator of Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amen Bank</span> Tunisian bank

Amen Bank is a private sector bank in Tunisia. It is listed in the Bourse de Tunis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamal Mokdad</span> General Manager of Banque Centrale Populaire

Kamal Mokdad is a Moroccan banker and businessman who is the general manager of Banque Centrale Populaire of Morocco. He is also the head of International Global Banking and the chief executive officer of BCP Consulting.

BRED is one of the cooperative banks part of Groupe Banque Populaire in France. It was founded in 1919 by Louis-Alexandre Dagot in Vincennes. As of 2018, the Bank has a network of 400 local branches in France. 30% of its 6,600 employees are located outside France and in French overseas collectivities. It has 5.8 billion euros of shareholders equity.

<i>Compagnie Algérienne</i> French bank

The Compagnie Algérienne, from 1942 to 1948 Compagnie Algérienne de Crédit et de Banque, was a significant French bank with operations in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon as well as mainland France. It was formed in 1877 in a restructuring of its predecessor entity, the Société Générale Algérienne, itself founded in 1865-68. The Compagnie Algérienne eventually merged in 1960 with the Banque de l'Union Parisienne. Following a series of subsequent restructurings, its main successor entities as of 2022 are the Crédit du Nord in France, the Crédit populaire d'Algérie in Algeria, the Banque de Tunisie in Tunisia, Attijariwafa Bank in Morocco, and the Banque Libano-Française in Lebanon.

<i>Crédit Foncier dAlgérie et de Tunisie</i> French bank

The Crédit Foncier d'Algérie et de Tunisie was a French colonial bank. It was originally founded in 1880 as the Crédit Foncier et Agricole d'Algérie, an Algerian affiliate of Crédit Foncier de France, and took its name CFAT in 1909 following expansion to Tunisia. In 1963, following Algerian independence, it renamed itself as Société Centrale de Banque (SCDB). It was acquired by Société Générale in 1971 and eventually absorbed by it in 1997. Its former overseas operations have become part of Banque Nationale d'Algérie in Algeria, Amen Bank in Tunisia, Société Générale in Morocco, and Fransabank in Lebanon.

References

  1. "DR YOUSEF ABDULLAH AL AWADI KBE APPOINTED BACB CHAIRMAN". BACB. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  2. "Paul Jennings Chief Executive Officer BACB". BACB. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "BACB Factsheet 2023". BACB. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  4. "BACB Annual Report 2023" (PDF). BACB. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  5. 1 2 BACB Shareholders Archived October 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine BACB Shareholders
  6. "Paul Hartwell Chief Executive, BACB: 'Here's why we chose Abidjan'". Financial Afrik. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  7. "BACB Seals "ground-breaking transaction" in Côte d'Ivoire". African Review. Retrieved 5 July 2017.