Regional Banking Profile:National Bank of Kuwait

National Bank of Kuwait has been named Best Bank in the Middle East 2013 by Global Finance magazine,as well as one of the world's 50 safest banks.Founded in 1952,the bank says it has focused on developing long term growth and a stable strategy.Our consistency in delivering strong results is a testimony to our strong financial position and focus on core banking business despite a challenging operating environment,said NBK group CEO Ibrahim Dabdoub.*NBK has 173 branches worldwide in 16 countries.In Kuwait itself,there are 64 branches,while Egypt has 41 branches,and Turkey has 20.The Shanghai and Singapore branches represent NBK in East Asia;and branches in New York,Paris and London fly the flag in the West.*NBK gets high credit ratings from all three major ratings agencies.Standard&Poor's gives it an A+;Fitch gives it a AA-;and Moody's assigns it an Aa3.They praise NBK for financial strength,strong franchise,technological sophistication,and stable and capable management team,the bank points out.*In 2012,NBK reported total assets of 58.398 billion dollars.Assets under management were 10.016 billion,and market cap was 14.585 billion.Net profit has risen steadily for the five year period,closing at 1.085 billion in 2012.*Part of NBK's strategy is diversifying its revenue stream by entering the field of Islamic banking.This was realised when it upped its stake in Boubyan Bank to 58.4%,effectively converting it to a subsidiary.Moody's hailed this move as providing a foothold to the growing Islamic banking sector,defending the bank against any market share attrition that results from a shift in customer preference towards Islamic banking.*National Bank of Kuwait S.A.K.(Kuwait Stock Exchange:NBK)

Euro-zone Crisis Management Update

The Euro-zone is attempting to deal with both the global financial crisis and the regional debt problem,while closely monitoring for signs of inflation.The European Central Bank is holding interest rates steady for the time being.Jean-Claude Trichet,ECB President,said he expects the Euro-zone to grow at a moderate pace.The ECB will adjust liquidity as appropriate.We will continue to see moderate price developments.Inflationary pressures over the medium term will remain contained.
Mr.Trichet urged deficit cuts to consolidate recovery from the financial crisis.
As for the Euro-zone debt crisis,John Taylor,a professor at Stanford University,thinks there's expectation that,down the road,Greek debt will be restructured.It could be quite orderly,changed without a lot of problems.It's quite likely.
In a further unfolding of the debt crisis,Moody's credit rating agency has just downgraded Portugal's sovereign debt.The U.S. market didn't respond to the news,absorbed in the initially positive earnings reports.
Moody's Corporation(MOC)