Press Releases

H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), stated that the CBK Board of Directors, in its meeting on 10th of June 2008, preliminarily agreed to license Mashreq Bank, a conventional bank from the United Arab Emirates to open a branch in the State of Kuwait.

This is the sixth such approval extended to a national bank of the Gulf Cooperation Council country to open a branch in the State of Kuwait, since the recent amendments of the CBK law removing the restriction on the access of foreign banks in the local market. Prior to this license, five licenses were extended to the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the National Bank of Qatar, the Doha Bank, Al-Rajhi Bank, and Musqat Bank. Two branches have already been registered in the Bank Register of the CBK and are now fully operating in the State of Kuwait. These are the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, and the National Bank of Qatar.

Worth noting is that the CBK Board of Directors had also approved licensing branches of three international banks, i.e. BNP Paribas, HSBC, and Citibank, which started their operations in 2005 and 2006.

H.E. the Governor concluded his statement indicating that the next step according to procedures set forth by the provisions of Law No. 32/1968 and its amendments, is to submit the matter to the Council of Ministers for its decision on the approval for opening of a branch of Mashreq Bank in the State of Kuwait.