New York-based Global Finance magazine yesterday named Gulf International Bank (GIB) as the “Best Project Finance Bank in the Middle East and Africa for 2006.” The Bank wins this particular award for the second year in a row.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Global Finance announced the world’s best project finance banks, covering institutions that stand out in global and regional markets. The awards include the top global bank and the top banks active in four global sectors and seven world regions, including the Middle East and Africa.
The magazine bases its selection of the winning banks on a wide range of subjective and objective criteria, including innovation in financing techniques, market position, project size and complexity, strength of project finance teams, geographic dispersion and opinions of analysts, lawyers and bankers involved in the industry.
Dr. Khaled M. Al-Fayez, GIB’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “For five years GIB has been the Middle East’s primary provider of project and structured finance services. Our expertise encompasses underwriting and arranging limited-recourse term financing, in addition to a complete range of debt finance products such as syndicated debt finance, Islamic finance and export credit agencies.”
He added: “GIB is proud to be a significant contributor to the economic development of the region. It has been playing a pivotal role in arranging, underwriting and lead-managing major transactions in the oil and gas, electric power generation, petrochemical and manufacturing sectors across the GCC.”
GIB has been at the top of the Middle East’s regional project finance league tables for five consecutive years, as rated by trade publications such as Project Finance International, Euromoney and MEED, and by Dealogic ProjectWare, a UK-based global database covering project finance deals.
GIB is a leading merchant bank and one of the largest regional banks in the GCC, with more than $24.5 billion of its own assets and in excess of $20 billion of clients’ assets under management. With a proven track record spanning more than 30 years, GIB provides client-led, innovative financial products and services to a wide customer base in the region, including investment banking, asset management, project and structured finance and Islamic banking.
For further information, please contact Mr. Abdulla Naneesh, Corporate Communications at GIB Bahrain: Tel (+973) 17 522 479, Fax (+973) 17 522 656.
