HRH Premier to patronise banking sector centenary celebrations

Manama, Mar. 17 (BNA): Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB) will hold the 100th anniversary of the banking sector in the kingdom, on September 11. The celebration marks the establishment of the first bank in Bahrain, Standard and Chartered (formerly the Oriental Bank Limited), 100 years ago, thus making Bahrain’s financial and banking sector among the oldest in the region and the world. BAB’s Board of Directors’ chairman, Adnan Ahmed Yousif, extended deepest thanks and appreciation to HRH the Prime Minister for patronising the festivity, which, he said, reflects his constant keenness on supporting the banking sector in the kingdom for many decades. Yousif underlined BAB’s desire to hold a mega celebration of the event commensurate with the importance of the deep-rooted sector, in cooperation with all partners, including the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) the Economic Development Board (EDB) and Standard Chartered Bank- Bahrain, among many others related to the economic, banking and financial sectors in general. BAB chief stressed the importance of this event in Bahrain, which now hosts 382 financial institutions with total assets of $ 192 billion, including 98 banks, 21 of which are Islamic banks.