Bahrain
Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
UAE
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Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Bahrain, Unicorn Investment Bank (Unicorn) is an Islamic financial services group with an international presence in the US, Malaysia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia (through its majority shareholding in Unicorn Capital Saudi Arabia). The bank is also a major shareholder in Dawood Islamic Bank, Pakistan.
Unicorn's integrated business model is built around six core business lines: Asset Management & Real Estate, Capital Markets, Corporate Finance, Private Equity, Strategic Mergers & Acquisitions and Treasury.
The bank leverages its resources and expertise across each of these business lines to provide clients with a comprehensive range of investment solutions tailored to meet their specific requirements.
The bank has completed several landmark transactions since its inception, including the establishment of T'azur, a regional Takaful company; the acquisition of Bahrain Financing Company, the oldest and one of the leading foreign exchange and remittance houses in the GCC; and the successful launch of the Strategic Acquisition Fund, a $1bn fund to acquire strategic stakes in commercial banks globally.
Unicorn has achieved consistent growth since its inception and has received widespread industry recognition for excellence and vision.
Unicorn's integrated business model is built around six core business lines: Asset Management & Real Estate, Capital Markets, Corporate Finance, Private Equity, Strategic Mergers & Acquisitions and Treasury.
The bank leverages its resources and expertise across each of these business lines to provide clients with a comprehensive range of investment solutions tailored to meet their specific requirements.
The bank has completed several landmark transactions since its inception, including the establishment of T'azur, a regional Takaful company; the acquisition of Bahrain Financing Company, the oldest and one of the leading foreign exchange and remittance houses in the GCC; and the successful launch of the Strategic Acquisition Fund, a $1bn fund to acquire strategic stakes in commercial banks globally.
Unicorn has achieved consistent growth since its inception and has received widespread industry recognition for excellence and vision.
Pipe dreams
Posted by TALAL on 20 December 2009 at 18:19 UAE time
With all due respect the list in not only wrong but misleading as well. I agree with Paddy that you need to come up with more meaningful criteria for ranking Banks as this doesn't work at all. When new financial results are out next year at least 3 on the list may end up up the creek without a paddle.
Posted by TALAL on 20 December 2009 at 18:19 UAE time
With all due respect the list in not only wrong but misleading as well. I agree with Paddy that you need to come up with more meaningful criteria for ranking Banks as this doesn't work at all. When new financial results are out next year at least 3 on the list may end up up the creek without a paddle.
Agree with the list
Posted by SG, Kuwait, Kuwait on 9 December 2009 at 09:50 UAE time
I have been working in the corporate banking field for over 5 years now and the banks listed above are quite secure. Choosing randomly and checking the historic audited financials you will see that these banks have been taking adequate provisions over the years unlike banks like Commercial Bank of Kuwait that took extreme sudden provisions making them reporting losses in 3Q of 09 whereas KD100m for the same period the previous year; that goes to show the type of credit they run. As for all the questions Paddy is asking, well an article that answers all those questions might as well be a book cos you are asking for financial analyses of each bank which could easily need 100 pages or so (4 pages each minimum). This report is a morale booster but is based on financials issued by the best international auditors. and, by the way, i do not work in any of those top banks but i intend to.
Posted by SG, Kuwait, Kuwait on 9 December 2009 at 09:50 UAE time
I have been working in the corporate banking field for over 5 years now and the banks listed above are quite secure. Choosing randomly and checking the historic audited financials you will see that these banks have been taking adequate provisions over the years unlike banks like Commercial Bank of Kuwait that took extreme sudden provisions making them reporting losses in 3Q of 09 whereas KD100m for the same period the previous year; that goes to show the type of credit they run. As for all the questions Paddy is asking, well an article that answers all those questions might as well be a book cos you are asking for financial analyses of each bank which could easily need 100 pages or so (4 pages each minimum). This report is a morale booster but is based on financials issued by the best international auditors. and, by the way, i do not work in any of those top banks but i intend to.
Tangible evidence missing
Posted by Paddy, Dubai, UAE on 26 November 2009 at 00:04 UAE time
The report talks about the performance of each bank at a very high level without delving deep into the numbers. For example, what is the net NPL for each bank in comparison with their assets? What is the exposure ratio (total exposure to the risky sectors out of the total assets) of each bank to risky sectors like Credit Cards, Construction & Real Estate etc? What is the recovery position with respect to Credit Card advances? What is the exposure of each bank (especially UAE and Saudi banks) to the Saad and Algosaibi groups? Have they kept aside provisions against these troubled assets? What has each bank done differently to tide over the financial crisis? HAs there been any fresh capital infusion into any of these banks? What is the Capital Adequacy Ratio of these banks? The lack of transparency with regard to reporting in the Middle East financial sector means that the banks may not have fully reported their bad assets. Maybe the report is intended to be a morale booster to the general public and not exactly based on hard facts.
Posted by Paddy, Dubai, UAE on 26 November 2009 at 00:04 UAE time
The report talks about the performance of each bank at a very high level without delving deep into the numbers. For example, what is the net NPL for each bank in comparison with their assets? What is the exposure ratio (total exposure to the risky sectors out of the total assets) of each bank to risky sectors like Credit Cards, Construction & Real Estate etc? What is the recovery position with respect to Credit Card advances? What is the exposure of each bank (especially UAE and Saudi banks) to the Saad and Algosaibi groups? Have they kept aside provisions against these troubled assets? What has each bank done differently to tide over the financial crisis? HAs there been any fresh capital infusion into any of these banks? What is the Capital Adequacy Ratio of these banks? The lack of transparency with regard to reporting in the Middle East financial sector means that the banks may not have fully reported their bad assets. Maybe the report is intended to be a morale booster to the general public and not exactly based on hard facts.
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