Press Releases

H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has stated that the CBK Board of Directors, in its meeting on 23rd of March 2008, has decided to approve in principle the licensing of Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation (Al-Rajhi Bank) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to open a branch in the State of Kuwait.

Since the enactment of recent laws that allow the presence of foreign banks in Kuwait, this is the fourth time that CBK gives its approval to a national bank operating the GCC countries to open a branch in the State of Kuwait. Previously, three licenses to open a branch were issued to the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the National Bank of Qatar, and Doha Bank. These branches have already commenced their operations in the State of Kuwait except for the Doha Bank is which expected to start up in the mid of this year.

Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the CBK Board of Directors had earlier issued three licenses to branches of international banks, namely the BNP Paribas, the HSBC, and Citibank, which began their operations here in the years of 2005 and 2006.

H.E. the Governor concluded his announcement stating that the next procedural step, according to the provisions of Article 90 of Law No. 32/1968 and its amendments, would to seek the approval of the Council of Ministers to the opening of a branch of the Al-Rajhi Bank in the State of Kuwait.