24 October 2016
Bank also rated third 'Strongest Bank in the Middle East'

Dubai - Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region has been ranked the ‘Strongest Bank in the UAE’ by the prestigious Asian Banker’s ‘AB 500 Strongest Banks in 2016.’ The bank, the largest in the UAE, was rated highly for its sound growth record and its giant leaps in the digitisation of banking over the past year.

Furthermore, Emirates NBD was named third ‘Strongest Bank in the Middle East’ and recognised for its exceptional financial performance along with improvements in balance sheet growth and capitalisation.

Commenting on the announcement, Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD said: “To achieve the title of the ‘Strongest Bank in the UAE’ by an internationally recognised and trusted institution such as The Asian Banker is a big honour for us. Maintaining a steady growth in the UAE and staying headstrong in the current market was the key focus for us this year. We are extremely happy that our financially sound and progressive policies have enabled us to achieve nothing short of outstanding fiscal results this year.”

The Asian Banker Strongest Banks is an annual assessment of the financial and business performance of the commercial banking industry in the Asia Pacific region, ranking top performing banks in each country by strength, based on a belief that a strong bank demonstrates long-term profitability from its core businesses. Winners are determined using a scorecard approach based on six performance indicators: Balance sheet growth, Risk profile, Profitability, Asset quality and Liquidity, rated on a zero –five scale. 

At the award ceremony held in Geneva, Switzerland, Emirates NBD was commended for its strides in the digitisation of banking, including the launch of Emirates NBD Future Lab™, a strategic think tank and a testing center for innovative ideas and the recent opening of the bank’s futuristic banking space at Emirates Towers.

“Innovation in banking solutions has always been one of our core strengths, backed by our AED 500 million commitment to further the use of digital technology in banking and payments. We are optimistic that our solid financial and operating performance, along with our leadership in digital banking innovation will continue to strengthen our position in the regional banking sector,” added Al Qassim.  

The prestigious recognition at The Asian Banker Awards is the latest in a series of accolades received by the bank. Emirates NBD was named ‘Best Bank in the Middle East’ at the Euromoney Award for Excellence 2016; Bank of the Year – Middle East 2015’ by The Banker; and Best Consumer Digital Bank in Middle East and Africa’ in the UAE and ‘Best Mobile Banking App’ Middle East and Africa, for the second year running, in addition to being named ‘Best in Mobile Banking’ for Middle East and Africa at Global Finance’s Best Digital Bank Awards.

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About Emirates NBD:
Emirates NBD is a leading banking Group in the region. As at 30th September 2016, total assets were AED 446 Billion, (equivalent to approx. USD 121 Billion). The Group has a significant retail banking franchise in the UAE and is a key participant in the global digital banking industry, with over 90 per cent of all financial transactions and requests conducted outside of its branches. The bank currently has 220 branches and 985 ATMs and CDMs in the UAE and overseas and a large social media following, being the only bank in the Middle East ranked among the top 20 in the ‘Power 100 Social Media Rankings’, compiled by The Financial Brand. It is a major player in the UAE corporate and retail banking arena and has strong Islamic Banking, Global Markets & Treasury, Investment Banking, Private Banking, Asset Management and Brokerage operations. Ratings agency Moody’s recently upgraded the bank’s long-term deposit and senior unsecured ratings to A3 and its baseline credit assessment (BCA) to ba1. In addition to the bank's strong funding and liquidity profile, the upgrade reflected the bank's improved loan quality, and its higher loss-absorption buffers.

The Group has operations in the UAE, Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and representative offices in India, China and Indonesia.

The Group is an active participant and supporter of the UAE’s main development initiatives and of the various educational, environmental, cultural, charity and community welfare establishments.

For further information on Emirates NBD, please contact: 
Ibrahim Sowaidan
Senior Vice President
Head - Group Corporate Affairs
Emirates NBD
Telephone: +971 4 609 4113 / +971 50 6538937
e-mail: ibrahims@emiratesnbd.com

Tricia Kaul | Shaleen Sukthankar
ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller; Dubai, UAE
Tel: 971-4-4507600; Fax: 971-4-4358040
Email: tricia.kaul@bm.com | shaleen.sukthankar@bm.com

© Press Release 2016