Bank ABC (Arab Banking Corporation B.S.C.) was incorporated in Bahrain pursuant to Amiri Decree Law No.2 for the year 1980 on 17th January 1980 with an authorised capital of US$1 billion. By April 1981, US$750 million had been fully paid by Bank ABC’s original three shareholders: the Ministry of Finance of Kuwait (whose shares have since been transferred to the Kuwait Investment Authority), the Libyan Secretariat of Treasury (whose shares were later transferred to the Central Bank of Libya) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. At the end of 1989, Bank ABC’s authorised share capital was increased to US$1,500 million and in June 1990, paid-up capital was raised to US$1,000 million through an international share offering. In June 2006, Bank ABC’s shares were split $10 to $1 in order to boost trading activities by placing them in the same range as other shares quoted on the Bahrain Bourse. Currently, Bank ABC has over 1,300 institutional and individual shareholders. At an Extraordinary General Meeting held in April 2008 Bank ABC’s shareholders approved an increase in the authorized capital of the bank from US$1.5 billion to US$2.5 billion and an increase in issued and paid up capital from US$1.0 billion to US$2.0 billion by way of a priority rights share offering to existing shareholders. Another Extraordinary General Meeting was held on January 28, 2010 to approve an increase in the authorized capital from US$2.5 billion to US$3.5 billion and an increase in issued and paid up capital from US$2.0 billion to US$3.11 billion by way of a priority rights share offering to existing shareholders. In December 2010 the Central Bank of Libya acquired the 17.72% shareholding of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in Bank ABC, increasing its stake to 59.37%.
In March 2022 during the EGM, Bank ABC obtained the shareholders’ approval for an issuance of US$390 million AT1 securities, which will increase the Bank’s Tier 1 capital ratio by approximately 130 basis points, taking it back above 17%. Additionally, the Bank obtained the shareholders’ approval to increase its authorised share capital from US$3.5 billion to US$4.5 billion. |