UAE Central Bank Supports Mergers

“I support mergers in the banking industry”, he told reporters, on the sidelines of a conference on Financial stability in the MENA region.

He said that mergers could not only be between financially weak banking institutions, but also between strong ones. Ever since, Emirates Bank International and National Bank of Dubai merged into Emirates NBD, speculators have benefited from rumours between Abu Dhabi based banks that emerged several times in recent past.

There were rumours of merger between Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) with First Gulf Bank (FGB) and also with Union National Bank. The speculation is rife that the NBAD and ADCB will be merged. A Kuwaiti newspaper recently speculated that the NBAD could be merged with Ahli United Bank. The top managements of all respective banks have time and again refuted such rumours.

This month, Dubai’s Islamic mortgage lenders Amlak Finance and Tamweel entered into merger talks. —

haseebhaider@khaleejtimes.com