Executive Summary
We have witnessed a series of high-profile mergers in the recent past in the Gulf banking sector as low oil prices has squeezed deposits, pushed up bad loans and impacted profitability. Recently, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) was created in the United Arab Emirates after a merger between two Abu Dhabi based lenders, First Gulf Bank (FGB) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). In KSA, news of merger of Saudi British Bank (SABB) and Alawwal popped up in April, 2017.
