Global Finance has announced its 33rd annual awards for the World’s Best Banks. The honorees for 11 countries, territories, and districts in the Middle East are presented here. The overall regional winner is Arab Bank.
A full report on the selections will appear in the May print and digital editions of Global Finance, as well as online at GFMag.com. Winners have been chosen in more than 150 countries, territories, and districts across Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Caribbean, Central America, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America, and Western Europe. The May report will also feature selections for the Best Islamic Financial Institutions, the Best Banks by US Region, and the World’s Best Banks by Region.
“The global banking sector continues to demonstrate resilience despite geopolitical volatility, regulatory pressure, and growing fintech competition,” said Joseph D. Giarraputo, founder and editorial director of Global Finance. “The Best Bank Awards 2026 honor the institutions that best manage their assets and liabilities while investing in digital innovation and AI to meet the changing needs of their clients.”
In selecting these top banks, Global Finance considered factors that ranged from the quantitative objective to the informed subjective. Objective criteria considered included: growth in assets, profitability, geographic reach, strategic relationships, new business development, and innovation in products. Subjective criteria included the opinions of equity analysts, credit rating analysts, banking consultants, and others involved in the industry.
All selections were made by the editors of Global Finance after extensive consultations with corporate financial executives, bankers and banking consultants, and analysts throughout the world. In addition, banks were encouraged to submit entries supporting their selection. The winners of this year’s awards are those banks that attended carefully to their customers’ needs in difficult markets and accomplished strong results while laying the foundations for future success. Winning organizations managed their assets and liabilities in a savvy way in light of consistent uncertainty over tariffs and global trade.
The overall Best Bank in the World will be announced this summer and published in October, along with the Best Global Banks in more than a dozen key categories.
The complete list of Global Finance Best Banks in the Middle East 2026 follows.
For editorial information please contact: Andrea Fiano, editor, email: afiano@gfmag.com
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Global Finance’s World’s Best Banks 2026 Awards Ceremony
Winners will be honored at an Awards Ceremony held during the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, at the Dusit Thani, on the morning of October 17, 2026. For more information on the event, please contact Anastasiia Petrukhina at anastasiia@gfmag.com.
About Global Finance
Global Finance, founded in 1987, has a circulation of 50,000 readers in 185 countries, territories and districts. Global Finance’s audience includes senior corporate and financial officers responsible for making investment and strategic decisions at multinational companies and financial institutions. Its website — GFMag.com — offers analysis and articles that are the legacy of 38 years of experience in international financial markets. Global Finance is headquartered in New York, with offices around the world. Global Finance regularly selects the top performers among banks and other providers of financial services. These awards have become a trusted standard of excellence for the global financial community.
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