Established in 2004, Boubyan Bank is an Islamic bank working in accordance with the Islamic Shari’a and applying the correct Islamic teachings in all its transactions with investors’ and clients’ finances, be they individuals or companies. Boubyan Bank is working hard to spread an integrated Islamic banking culture among its clients and staff by being the Islamic role model that we all seek.

Establishment

Boubyan Bank was the first Islamic bank in Kuwait established according to law number 33/2003. Boubyan Islamic Bank was established under the name of Boubyan Bank in 2004 according to the Emiri decree number 88 to practice all banking, financial and commercial activities in accordance with the Islamic Shari’a. Its capital upon establishment was 100 million Kuwaiti Dinars.

National Bank of Kuwait ownership

In 2009, the National Bank of Kuwait requested a 60% ownership of Boubyan Bank from the Central Bank of Kuwait. NBK managed to own 47.29% of the bank by the end of 2009, which was raised to 58.3% by the year 2012. This resulted in a huge change, thanks to the priority NBK gave to putting Boubyan Bank on the right track, after a number of changes in its owners’ shares who tried but failed to take the Bank higher. The changes, however, were too big to guarantee the Bank stability and fixed vision. A new bank strategy was implemented between 2010 and 2014. It was created with the assistance of a leading international consulting firm and repositioned the bank to return to basics by focusing on retail banking services. The goal behind this strategy was to bring Boubyan Bank closer to its clients by expanding its branches. It also highlighted investment in human resources, especially the national element (currently representing more than 70% of total employment), in addition to the innovations investments in technology.