First Gulf Bank (FGB has been awarded a license upgrade to a Category 1 (CAT 1) Branch by Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA). FGB has upgraded its operations in less than 2 years, starting off as a Cat 4 branch in August 2009. The upgraded CAT 1 branch will now allow FGB-Qatar to also provide credit facilities and accept deposits, in addition to its existing capabilities of arranging and advising deals in investments and arranging credit facilities.

Abdulhamid Saeed, Managing Director, First Gulf Bank, UAE, commenting on the announcement stated, "The upgraded branch status in Qatar, supports our overall strategy to expand our services and offerings geographically. FGB is currently focusing on establishing a firm foothold in selected high growth markets in Asia and the GCC, in order to tap the increasing trade and investment potential between these countries and the UAE."

He added, "FGB recognizes the massive potential for growth in Qatar’s economy and we hope that FGB’s presence in Qatar’s financial sector would contribute further to the growth of the Qatar economy. In addition to our upgraded operations in Qatar, we also have a wholesale branch in Singapore which services clients from Indonesia and China and a presence in India through our representative office there."

Mr. Sunit Bhardwaj, Country Head, FGB-Qatar said, "The upgrade will significantly enhance our capabilities at a local level, enabling us to function as a wholesale banking branch. It will enable us to service wholesale and corporate customers based out of Qatar and other FGB franchises with a wider scope of Product offerings."

This announcement is further to a series of positive milestones for FGB, which recently joined the IFC Global Trade Finance Program as a Confirming Bank that enables the Bank to expand its capacity in promoting private trade flows in emerging markets. FGB started the year 2011 with a groundbreaking financial performance, recording a net profit of AED875 million in the first quarter (Q1) of 2011. This represents an increase of AED10 million or 1.2% higher than Q4 2010 net profit of AED865 million, which demonstrates consistent positive growth in net profit in the previous 12 months.

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