Bankers from across the Middle East gathered to attend the Euromoney Middle East Awards for Excellence dinner at Grosvenor House in Dubai, May 17.
The awards recognised banks that stood out during a year when bank liquidity conditions began to ease, while navigating economic reform remained paramount and debut sovereign bonds brought record issuance in the debt capital markets.
Commercial International Bank (CIB) won the award for the Middle East’s best bank, as it remained the Egyptian banking sector’s biggest profit-earner after Egypt staged its dramatic shift to a floating exchange rate.
“CIB recorded a return on equity of 34% in 2016, higher than any other top-tier lender in the region,” says Euromoney. “It is an institution posting sky-high returns, with steadily increasing net income, at the same time as exceptional risk management and liquidity, and stellar efficiency.
“CIB retains a solid hold of the local corporate banking market from project finance to transaction services. It is furthering a shift to what it sees as its core businesses for the future – principally retail banking, where it already counts around a million customers, and is also expanding in SMEs and digital banking.”