DIFFERENT STRATEGIES, SIMILAR SUCCESS
Arab Banking Corporation and Gulf International Bank stand in close proximity. They are separated only by the Bahraini Hilton Hotel and a makeshift football pitch with a bare limestone surface. Looming like obelisks of glass and mortar, both banks have their backs to the nearby Arabian Gulf and each occupies a plot of recently reclaimed land. And the forecourt of each is lined with luxury cars.
There the similarities end. For these are but physical likenesses. They attest only to the banks' common home and status as offshore banking units (OBUs) in Manama, capital of Bahrain. Inside ABC there's an atmosphere charged with ambition: "We've got a global network and a commitment to world-wide expansion," boasted Abdulla Saudi, president and chief executive officer. A visit to GIB reveals a more staid atmosphere: "They're all ex-guardsmen, either by profession or by nature," said one of its recently departed bankers. He was referring to the dogged adherence to tradition of the GIB empoyees, who treat the bank's annual report as their script when talking to an enquiring outsider.
ABC and GIB have emerged as the most prominent of the Arab banks.