Gulf International Bank


Gulf International Bank was established in 1976 during the first oil boom and is incorporated in the Kingdom of Bahrain as a conventional wholesale bank. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain and is headquartered in Manama in Bahrain.
Gulf International Bank, through its subsidiaries, provides its services in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and internationally. The company offers structured financing and advisory services for corporate and institutional customers in various sectors, including oil and gas, LNG, petrochemicals, power and water, infrastructure, telecom and technology-based projects, and aircraft and ships; and underwrites and arranges limited-recourse term financing with a range of debt finance products, such as syndicated debt finance, Islamic finance, export credit, and capital markets. It also provides a range of financial advisory services. In addition, the company offers asset and fund management services to the Middle East semi-governmental institutions and European financial institutions.
The bank had a tough time during the recession of 2008 and 2009 and its shareholders at the time, namely the Saudi Arabian government, injected an additional $1 billion of capital to prevent the firm from going under.

Operations, subsidiaries and shareholders

The Gulf International Bank is owned principally by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which has a 97.226% stake. Two stakes of 0.730% are owned by the Kuwait Investment Authority and the Qatar Holding Company.
Three remaining stakes of 0.438% are each held by Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the Ministry of Finance of Oman and the Emirates Investment Authority.
GIB’s main subsidiary is its UK branch, Gulf International Bank Ltd, which is based in Knightsbridge, London. The Saudi International Bank merged into this UK branch in 2000. The bank also has branches in London, New York, Abu Dhabi, Dhahran, Riyadh and Jeddah with a representative office in Dubai.
In 2017 GIB licensed to become a local bank in Saudi Arabia.

Key personnel