One of the Gulf region’s leading banking recognition initiatives, Albilad’s Top 30 Gulf Banks, organised by Albilad Media Foundation, has reached its final strategic stage. More than 70 major banks from across the GCC are undergoing a detailed financial and credit evaluation ahead of the official announcement of the institutions that will be recognised among the region’s top-performing banks.
The broad participation in this year’s evaluation reflects the depth and resilience of the Gulf banking sector and its ability to drive sustainable development. The preliminary shortlist subject to evaluation includes approximately 74 officially licensed banks and financial institutions from central banks across the region, operating in retail and wholesale sectors, both conventional and Islamic. They are geographically distributed according to the strategic weight of the markets: 20 banks from the United Arab Emirates, 17 from the Kingdom of Bahrain, 11 from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 9 from the State of Kuwait, 9 from the State of Qatar, and 7 from the Sultanate of Oman.
In a step that reinforces the highest standards of reliability and ensures absolute accuracy in the ranking outcomes, the initiative’s Supreme Committee has adopted a “Dual Audit” mechanism this year. Assure Consulting will conduct the first phase of financial data processing and analysis, while independent accounting expert Mr. Jassim Abdul-Aal, Managing Partner at Grant Thornton – Bahrain, will handle the independent final audit and review, officially certifying the results before their final approval and public release.
The initiative is directly monitored and supervised by an independent judging committee comprising a distinguished group of the region’s most prominent economic, financial, and accounting figures, adding profound dimensions of neutrality and objectivity to the ranking. The committee is chaired by banking expert Dr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif, former Chairman of the Bahrain Association of Banks, former Chairman of the Union of Arab Banks, and former CEO of Al Baraka Banking Group, who established its international presence over four decades. Committee members include Dr. Waheed Al Qassim, CEO of the Bahrain Association of Banks, former head of Ebdaa Bank, and an expert with extensive experience in government and banking sectors; Mr. Faisal Al Alwan, a banking expert and former CEO of several major institutions, including the Saudi European Bank and Shamil Bank of Bahrain; Dr. Hassan Al-Ali, Economic Advisor to the Bahrain Association of Banks and an economic researcher with a strategic regulatory vision; and Mr. Abbas Radhi, Chairman of the Bahrain Accountants Association, Founder and Managing Partner of Al Awael Public Accountants, and a prominent figure in corporate governance and institutional auditing.
Commenting on this, Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif, Chairman of the Independent Committee supervising the initiative, stated: “The qualitative development in the evaluation methodology of the ‘Top 30 Gulf Banks’ initiative reflects Albilad Media Foundation’s commitment to elevating this initiative to a level that aligns with the best international practices and standards in assessing banking institutions. The GCC banking sector has evolved into one of the most advanced and competitive sectors globally, requiring a rigorous and transparent methodology based on audited financial data and objective performance indicators, independent of any other considerations.”
He added: “The independent committee is meticulously reviewing all evaluation stages to ensure the highest standards of integrity, neutrality, and reliability, thereby bolstering the confidence of banks, investors, and stakeholders in the final outcomes. We aspire for this initiative to become a recognized regional benchmark for monitoring the performance of Gulf banks, fostering a culture of excellence, governance, and transparency, and encouraging banking institutions to continually enhance their performance to serve GCC economies and boost their global competitiveness.”
The “Top 30 Gulf Banks” initiative aims to highlight the exceptional financial performance of Gulf banks and underscore their pivotal role in financing major infrastructure projects and economic transformation in the region. It also seeks to establish advanced transparency standards that support the competitiveness of financial markets, providing an impartial and reliable professional reference for investors and decision-makers to monitor the robustness of balance sheets.
This year’s cycle crowns an upward trajectory of institutional success for the initiative, which laid its foundational roots locally in 2023 through the “Top 10 Bahraini Banks” project, before expanding with remarkable success to the regional level. Recalling the results of the previous cycle (2025), the evaluations revealed intense competition decisively won by the largest banking entities. Qatar National Bank (QNB) secured the first place as the strongest Gulf bank, followed by Emirates NBD in second place, while Saudi National Bank (SNB) ranked third. This reflects the robust financial positions of these institutions and their superiority in profitability and capital adequacy indicators. Today, the initiative reaffirms its firmly established position as the most important professional index and reference for evaluating banking performance in the GCC.
