The former Chairman of the Arab Banking Federation (AFB), Adnan Yusuf, said that Bahrain banks currently occupy leading international positions.
In his statement to "Akhbar Al-Khaleej" newspaper today, Yusuf praised the financial solvency status and readiness of Bahraini banks to enforce the Basel III Convention requirements. He said that Bahraini banks have enjoyed 8% financial solvency five years ago and successfully raised this average to 12%.
He said that Bahraini banks in particular and Gulf and Arab banks in general have better financial solvency than European and western banks as Arab and Gulf banks determine financial solvency on the basis of shareholders rights and retained profits unlike western banks which determine financial solvency on the basis of other elements that have been superseded by Basil III. This weakened the position of most banks in the list of the strongest western banks.