Press Releases
17.12.08 Press Statement
CBK Cuts its Discount Rate to 3.75%
H.E. the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, announced in a press statement to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the CBK Board of Directors decided to cut the CBK discount rate by 50 basis points from 4.25% to 3.75% effective from Wednesday the 17th of December 2008. H.E. the Governor explained that this decision comes within the continuous steps by CBK in its efforts to strengthen the local environment to face the challenges of the global financial crises.
More17.11.08 Press Statement
CBK Board Decisions to Resolve Gulf Bank Crisis
H.E. the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, stated that the CBK Board of Directors held a meeting on Sunday the 16th of November 2008. The Board discussed measures to strengthen shareholders' equity at the Gulf Bank, in view of the results of the external auditors report assigned to carry out an audit of the bank as of end October 2008, in order to determine the magnitude of the loss suffered by the Gulf Bank following the declaration on 26 October 2008 that the bank suffered a loss as a result of its trading in financial derivatives on behalf of its clients.
More03.11.08
Law No. 30/2008 Concerning Guarantee of Deposits at Local Banks in the State of Kuwait Comes into Effect
Law No. 30/2008 Concerning Guarantee of Deposits at Local Banks in the State of Kuwait came into effect on 3-11-2008. The Law consists of 3 articles the first of which states that:
More30.10.08 Press Statement
CBK Cuts its Discount Rate to 4.25%
H.E. the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, announced in a press statement to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the CBK Board of Directors has decided to cut the CBK discount rate by 25 basis points from 4.50% to 4.25% effective from Thursday the 30th of October 2008. H.E. the Governor explained that the decision is based on the close and continuous monitoring by CBK of the current local and international economic, monetary and banking conditions, and was made to bolster confidence in the national economy and strengthen the role of the banking system in meeting the funding requirements of local economic sectors.
More28.10.08 Press Statement
Government Submits to National Assembly a Draft Law to Guarantee Local Bank Deposits.
The Council of Ministers has submitted on an urgent basis to the National Assembly a draft law concerning the State guarantee of customer deposits with local banks. This law will infuse added confidence in the soundness of the banking system.
More28.10.08 Press Statement
Gulf Bank Has Closed All Financial Derivative Transactions on Account of its Customers
H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), announced that on the basis of data reported to CBK on Tuesday 28 October 2008 by the Gulf Bank and the controller appointed to supervise the activities of this bank in management of the treasury department and dealings in the exchange and securities markets, all transactions in financial derivatives on behalf of customers have been closed, and that currently the Gulf Bank does not have any such transactions on behalf of its customers.
More27.10.08 Press Statement
Gulf Bank
H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), announced that in view of the rumors circulating about losses in some local banks resulting from their transactions in derivative contracts, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) would like to affirm that it has examined all other banks and found non of these local banks incurring any losses in such transactions. H.E. the Governor said, regarding the Gulf Bank and in order to fully reassure the bank depositors CBK reiterates its financial support to the bank and protection of all deposits with it regardless of their type. In addition there is going to be an urgent bill to announce State guarantee of deposits with all local banks.
More26.10.08 Press Statement
Gulf Bank
H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), announced that CBK received information from the Gulf Bank, at end of business on Thursday 23 October 2008, that some of its clients suffered financial losses in their transactions through the bank involving derivative contracts. The Gulf Bank pointed out that these losses resulted from the drop of the Euro's exchange rate against the US dollar.
More16.10.08 Press Statement
The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Board of Directors issued a number of resolutions concerning the supervisory instructions directed to banks.
The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Board of Directors in its meeting held on 8 October 2008 issued a number of resolutions concerning the supervisory instructions directed to banks. These resolutions resulted from the meticulous efforts that CBK exerts to monitor the extraordinary developments and circumstances caused by the crisis striking world financial markets, and in view of the constant review by CBK of its supervisory instructions issued to units under its supervision to update and conform them to economic and financial developments internally and externally. The resolutions include raising the maximum limit for the ratio of credit facilities to deposits from 80% to 85%, increasing the rate of growth set for bank credit portfolios during 2008 by 5 percentage points for each bank, and considering real estate as one of the acceptable items for the collateral qualified for inclusion in the calculation of the capital adequacy ratio. The CBK Board explained that it is closely monitoring the developing situation, and emphasized its readiness to take necessary measures to boost confidence and strengthen monetary and financial stability in the national economy.
More16.10.08 Press Statement
Governor Meets Local Bank Chairmen
H.E. Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz Al-Sabah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) met, on Wednesday the 15th of October 2008, the board chairmen of local banks. The purpose of the meeting was to emphasize the importance of the role played by local banks, in their financial transactions with investment companies, to ensure uninterrupted flow of funds into the economy and reinforce the stability of the financial market. In this meeting, H.E. the Governor underlined a number of important aspects of the banking business, at this stage, which included the following:
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