IFC awards Bank of Beirut

BoB awarded ‘Best Letters of Credits Issuing Bank in MENA’

August 12, 2011- Bank of Beirut (BoB) was awarded the ‘Best GTFP Issuing Bank in Middle East and North Africa Regional Trade’. The award was delivered during the fourth annual International Finance Corporation (IFC) conference in Istanbul.

IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP) was launched in 2006 to aid firms do business in international markets. The program provides partial or full guarantees against underlying trade instruments and covers the payment risk of participating issuing banks. Since the GTFP’s inception in the country, IFC has provided trade finance guarantees worth almost $580 million to financial institutions in the country.

Commenting on the award, BoB’s Assistant General Manager, Najib Semaan, said that “while working with third parties and finances, trust is a crucial aspect in ensuring that all the Letters of Credit are accepted and that all operations run smoothly.”

The award was granted to the bank with the highest number of issued LCs in its account.

According to 2010 figures, Bank of Beirut ranked in 6th place, locally, with its total assets exceeding nine billion dollars.
Bank of Beirut has a network of 53 branches across the country, and a branch in Cyprus, two branches in Oman, a branch in Germany, a subsidiary in the UK, a subsidiary in Australia, and three Representative Offices located in Dubai, Nigeria, and Iraq.