Middle Eastern regional awards
 |
Best Bank: Housing Bank for Trade and Finance |
The traditional overwhelming dominance of the market by Arab Bank is long since over as smaller and more dynamic banks offer an increasingly impressive range of products and services. Jordan Kuwait Bank had another excellent year with net income and total assets up sharply but the award for best bank goes to the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance.
The bank delivered a 17% rise in operating income to JD203.7 million ($287 million), while maintaining its position as the lead arranger of infrastructure finance in the country.
It was financial adviser in a landmark transaction with Mediobanca for the Italian consortium bidding for the Disi Mudawara water project. HBTF raised more than $260 million from the Jordanian market for the $1 billion project.
The bank has also continued to deliver on its commitment to using quality IT systems. It has the largest ATM network (25% of all in the country) and its electronic banking services also grew rapidly.