OUR SHARED HISTORY

Arab Bank was first registered on May 21, 1930 and commenced its operations in Jerusalem and since its founding, the Bank’s legacy has been to act as an active and leading partner in the socio-economic development of the region.
Given the geo political situations arising during the time, in 1948, the Bank’s headquarters were transferred to Amman, Jordan, where it was officially incorporated as a public shareholding company. The decades following were considered a period of rapid expansion; during the 1940’s and 1950’s, the Bank expanded its network of branches in the Arab world quickly. The 1960's brought along a wave of Nationalization which swept the Arab world as country after country gained independence from British and French colonial rule. Branches in Egypt and Syria were nationalized in 1961, Iraq in 1964, Aden in 1969, and finally Sudan and Libya the year after. In 1961, the Bank opened its first international location, becoming the first Arab financial institution to establish a presence in Switzerland. A sister institution, Arab Bank Switzerland was established in Zurich in 1962 with another branch in Geneva opening in 1964. Even in turbulent times, Arab Bank never defaulted on a single payment to any of its customers or partners, honouring all of its commitments regardless of the political and economic environment. The 1970s were focused on the newly emerging oil economies of the Gulf while steadily expanding in Jordan.
Global expansion continued with the opening of branches in Frankfurt, London, Australia, New York, Singapore as well as many other cities. After the signing of the Palestinian-Israeli Oslo Peace accords, Arab Bank returned to the Palestinian territories to open a network of branches in several Palestinian towns. Parallel to growing in size, Arab Bank expanded its scope of products and services into new areas of business. Previously emphasizing on trade and small-scale construction finance, the Bank undertook a leading role in large scale project finance, both directly and through participation in syndicated loans. By the 1990’s, Arab Bank added investment banking to its established services. In 2006, Arab Bank was granted the green-light to establish Europe Arab Bank (EAB), a London-based, fully-owned subsidiary. The bank also acquired 50% of Turkland Bank in Turkey, and 50% of Al Nisr Al Arabi Insurance company in Jordan, thus introducing Bancassurance to its product variety.
Today, the Arab Bank Group has one of the largest global Arab banking networks with over 600 branches spanning five continents and is consistently being rated amongst most innovative organizations in the region.