PRESS RELEASE: World’s Best Bank Awards 2025 – Middle East

Global Finance has announced its 32nd annual awards for the World’s Best Banks. The honorees for 10 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 nearly 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.

“Global banking continues to adapt and evolve, meeting challenges and capitalizing on opportunities with resilience and innovation. AI has quickly taken a pivotal role in the transformation of banking, and its growth promises to reshape the financial sector at an unprecedented pace,” said Joseph D. Giarraputo, founder and editorial director of Global Finance. “Global Finance’s Best Bank Awards honor financial institutions that excel in diversity of offerings, long-term stability, and technological innovation.”

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 the fast-changing interest rate scenarios.

The overall Best Bank in the World will be announced in the summer and published in October, along with the Best Global Banks in more than a dozen key categories.

Winners will be honored at an Awards Ceremony held during the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings Washington, DC at the National Press Club on the morning of October 18, 2025. For more information on the event, please contact Anastasiia Petrukhina at anastasiia@gfmag.com.

The complete list of Global Finance Best Banks in the Middle East 2025 follows.

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For editorial information, please contact Andrea Fiano, editor, afiano@gfmag.com

About Global Finance

Global Finance, founded in 1987, has a circulation of 50,000 and readers in 188 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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