The internationalisation of the Arab Gulf banks (Ph.D. Thesis)

This thesis investigates the causes behind the international expansion of many Arab Gulf banks, and the importance of oil revenues during the 1970s in their development and international expansion. The study also examines how financial markets in the region (i.e. Kuwait and Bahrain) encouraged the regional and international expansion of Arab banks. The study traces the development of Arab Gulf banks since their inception in the 1950s and 1960s, and includes a survey investigating the expansion of these banks into the major international financial centers of Western Europe, the United States, and Tokyo. A comparative analysis of the operational aspects of Arab and other international banks is also provided. The study demonstrates that success of Arab banks in euromarkets was not necessarily based on oil revenues as often assumed, but rather the trade finance of these banks that fuelled their international expansion.