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History of BLOM BANK Group
1951:
Banque du Liban et d’Outre-Mer s.a.l. (named hereafter BLOM BANK) was founded in 1951 by Messrs. Hajj Hussein AL OUEINI, Georges MAALOUF, Najib YAFET and Sheikh Boutros EL – KHOURY. Hajj Hussein AL OUEINI was elected Chairman of Board, Sheikh Boutros EL – KHOURY and Mr. Georges MAALOUF as Vice-President. Sheikh Boutros EL – KHOURY remained in this position until he passed away and Mr. Georges MAALOUF until he immigrated. Mr. Emile BOUSTANY was appointed General Manager.
1952:
Opening of a branch in Jeddah – Saudi Arabia.
1961:
Dr. Naaman AZHARI was appointed General Manager of BLOM BANK.
1971:
Dr. Naaman Azhari was appointed Chairman and General Manager of BLOM BANK.
1974:
Arope Insurance was established with a leading French re-insurance company, LASCOR.
1975:
BLOM BANK established a new branch in Dubai.
1976:
La Banque de L’Orient Arabe et d’Outre –Mer (Banorabe), was founded in Paris by BLOM BANK and other Swiss & Arab shareholders.
1978:
BLOM BANK established a new branch in Sharjah.
1979:
Banque Banorient (Suisse) was established in Geneva.
1981:
BLOM became the Largest Bank in Lebanon, a position it has held until today for 20 consecutive years.
1982:
BLOM BANK established a branch in Muscat.
1983:
The London branch of BLOM BANK was established. ‘Saoudization' of Jeddah branch due to the decision to Saoudize banks in Saudi Arabia.
1987:
Dr. Ezzat TRABOULSI was appointed General Manager of BLOM BANK until he resigned in 1997. He was then appointed Chairman’s advisor of BLOM BANK.
1990:
Mr. Habib RAHAL was appointed General Manager of BLOM BANK.
Mr. Fawaz KAYAL was appointed Assistant General Manager of BLOM BANK.
1992:
Banque Banorabe acquired 100% of Banque Banorient (Suisse) shares.
1993:
BLOM BANK opened an offshore banking unit in Limassol, Cyprus.
1994:
Banque d’Affaires du Liban et d’Outre-Mer, an investment banking subsidiary of BLOM BANK, was established by BLOM BANK. Dr. Fadi OSSEIRAN was appointed General Manager of this Bank.
1996:
BLOM BANK acquired Banque Banorabe, which in turn owns Banque Banorient (Suisse). Thus, BLOM BANK became the most geographically diverse Lebanese Bank with the largest presence in Europe and the Gulf.
1997:
Mr. Samer AZHARI was elected General Manager of BLOM BANK and Mr. Saad AZHARI, General Manager of Banque Banorient (Suisse) and the Group’s General Secretary. BLOM BANK moved its head office and main branch to a new building in Verdun. Mr. Fateh BEKDACH was elected General Manager of the affiliated Insurance Company of the Group, AROPE INSURANCE.
1998:
Mr. Samer AZHARI was elected Chairman and General Manager of the affiliated insurance company of the Group, AROPE INSURANCE.
Mr. Saad AZHARI was elected Chairman and General Manager of Banque d’Affaires du Liban et d’Outre-Mer.
1999:
Dr. Naaman AZHARI was elected as ‘The Best Banking Personality in the Arab World’ by the Association of Arab Banks.
Mr. Samer AZHARI was elected Vice-President of the Lebanese Banking Association.
2000:
BLOM BANK was chosen as the Best Bank in Lebanon by the Banker magazine and Euromoney. BLOM BANK was assigned the highest rating A- for its domestic financial strength by Capital Intelligence, the rating agency specialized in rating banks in the Middle East.
2001:
BLOM BANK celebrated its 50th anniversary while maintaining, for the 20th consecutive year, its position as ‘The Largest Bank in Lebanon’.
‘Banque du Liban et d’Outre-Mer’ abbreviated its name in English to become BLOM BANK s.a.l. and ‘Banque d’Affaires du Liban et d’Outre-Mer’ changed its name to English becoming BLOMINVEST BANK s.a.l.
The Group also redesigned the logos of all its banking entities.
Mr. Saad AZHARI was elected as Chairman of Banque Banorient (Suisse) and Vice-Chairman and General Manager of BLOM BANK while keeping his position as Chairman and General Manager of BLOMINVEST BANK. He was also elected Vice-Chairman of the Association of Banks in Lebanon.
Mr. Samer AZHARI was elected in September 2001 as Chairman and General Manager of Banque Banorabe (starting date: January 14, 2002), in addition to his position as board member and General Manager of BLOM BANK and Chairman and General Manager of AROPE INSURANCE.
BLOM BANK opened a new branch in the Damascus free zone in Syria in September 2001.
BLOM BANK won the award of ‘The Best Bank in Lebanon for 2001’ from international institution Euromoney and ‘The Bank of the year 2001’ award from international financial magazine The Banker.
BLOM BANK inaugurated in December 2001 the second building related to its headquarters in Verdun area. The twin buildings are considered a landmark in Lebanon.
2002:
Mr. Samer AZHARI was elected as Group Secretary General in November 2001 in addition to his position as board member of BLOM BANK, Chairman and General Manager of Banque Banorabe and Chairman and General Manager of AROPE INSURANCE.
BLOM BANK won the award of ‘The Best Bank in Lebanon for 2002’ from Euromoney for the 3rd consecutive year and the ‘Bank of the year’ award from The Banker for the 2nd consecutive year.
BLOM BANK issues preferred shares for the amount of US Dollar 75 million divided into 750 thousand shares of 100 US Dollar each.
2003
BLOM BANK remains the Largest Bank in Lebanon for 23 consecutive years.
BLOM BANK won the awards of ‘The Best Bank in Lebanon for 2003’ from Euromoney for the 4th consecutive year and from Global Finance for the 2nd consecutive year.
BLOM BANK remains the only Lebanese bank to benefit exclusively from the highest financial strength rating BBB+ from Capital Intelligence.
BLOM BANK obtained a license to establish a private bank in Syria and to open a branch in Amman – Jordan.
2004
The Group established the private bank, BANK OF SYRIA AND OVERSEAS. BLOM BANK became the largest shareholder with a 39% share whereas IFC’S share is of 10%. The remaining capital is subscribed by Syria individuals.
BLOM BANK opened new branches in Haret Hreik, Aley and in Aaman – Jordan.
BLOM BANK issued series 2004 Preferred shares for USD 75 million, which are considered as Tier 1 and Tier 2 Capital.
Mr. Amr AZHARI was appointed as Assistant General Manager of BLOM BANK.
BLOM BANK won the awards of ‘The Best Bank in Lebanon for 2004’ from Global Finance for the 3rd consecutive year and from Euromoney for the 5th consecutive year.
2005
BLOM BANK was selected as ‘The Best Bank in Lebanon for 2005’ by international specialized magazine Global Finance.
BLOM BANK ranked first in the Top 1000 world banks as selected in the July issue of The Banker, registering a significant growth in its international ranking to become the only Lebanese bank among the Top 500 world banks in total assets.
BLOM BANK won the award of ‘Best Debt House in Lebanon’ from Euromoney, a specialized international institution.
BLOM BANK continues to benefit exclusively among Lebanese banks, and for the 5th consecutive year, of the highest financial strength rating from Capital Intelligence, specialized in bank rating in the Middle East.
BANK OF SYRIA AND OVERSEAS, affiliate of BLOM BANK, opened 2 new branches in Damascus, one in Aleppo and one in Lattakia.
BLOM BANK’s share of AROPE INSURANCE increased to reach 88.49%.
BLOM BANK issued series 2005 preferred shares.
BLOM BANK acquired 96.78% of MISR ROMANIAN BANK in December 2005. The Bank was renamed BLOM BANK EGYPT and BLOM BANK currently owns approximately 99% of it.
2006
On February 2006, BLOM BANK Issued, 3 millions Global Depositary Receipts” GDR” for a total amount of USD 276 million. Credit Suisse acted as Global Coordinator, Sole Bookrunner and Lead Manager for the issue and both SHUAA Capital PSC and Global Investment House as co-lead managers.
BLOM BANK established on February 2006, BLOM DEVELOPMENT BANK, an Islamic bank that is 99.98% owned by BLOM BANK s.a.l.
The Bank renamed all its affiliated banks to place them all under the BLOM BANK umbrella as such, Banque Banorabe became BLOM BANK FRANCE and Banque Banorient (Suisse) was renamed as BLOM BANK (SWITZERLAND).
Consequently, all logos of the Group were reworked in order to further strengthen the solidity of the Group and create a unified front.
BANK OF SYRIA AND OVERSEAS opened four new branches one in Hama Tartous, Homs & Mazzeh.
AROPE Insurance which is 88.49% owned by BLOM BANK, established on June 2006 one of the first private insurance companies in Syria, named AROPE SYRIA.
BLOM BANK inaugurated 3 new branches in Lebanon; Mansourieh, Zouk Mousbieh and a Retail Branch in Verdun. It opened as well two new branches in Jordan , Wahadat and Soueifieh branches
BLOM BANK received all the awards granted for Lebanese banks in 2006 by Euromoney magazine; The Best Bank and the Best Investment Bank in Lebanon. BLOM BANK was awarded as well ‘The Best Bank in Lebanon’ by Global Finance as well as BANK of the year from The Banker.
BLOM BANK continues to enjoy exclusively the highest financial strength rating among Lebanese banks according to Capital Intelligence.
On September 2006, AROPE Insurance moved its headquarters to BLOM BANK’s headquarters building in Verdun.
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