By Alex Warren
Three foreign banks now have a concrete presence in Kuwait – BNP Paribas, which in late 2004 was the first to be granted a licence by the central bank; HSBC Middle East, which in October 2005 was the first to begin operations; and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, which registered late last year.
Citigroup will shortly join them after announcing in April that it had also been awarded a licence and would launch corporate and investment banking services from this month.
“It’s still early days to judge how the foreign banks are faring,” says Faisal Hasan, senior financial analyst at local brokerage and asset management firm Global Investment House.
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