BCC now 7th largest Arab Bank in the World. Further proof of our organisation's excellent growth has been provided by The Banker magazine. This influential publication, part of a group which includes the Financial Times among its titles, compiled a list of the top 100 Arab banks, which appeared in its December 1980 issue. And BCC was listed as the seventh largest by deposits - a remarkable achievement considering that BCC only began trading in 1972. The definition of an Arab bank used by the magazine was of a bank where 50 percent or more of the equity is owned by Arab interests. Following the qualifications set by The Banker for its annual listing of the world's largest 500 banks, the banks' sizes are worked out as the total assets less contra accounts.
It is not surprising that few people inside BCC are fully aware of the importance of our bank's 70 per cent owned Swiss subsidiary, Banque de Commerce et de Placements. Before BCC took over, we did not handle letters of credit, but concentrated mainly on fiduciary accounts, fund-management, foreign exchange and precious metals. BCC created the letters of credit department which has become one of our major activities. BCP is now involved in all aspects of banking apart from real estate and mortgages. Another principal area, and one in which it has considerable success, is portfolio management.
Read the full issue here: BCC International - No. 7