FAB facilitated over $9 bn worth of sustainable projects in 2022: CEO

Hana Al Rostamani, Group Chief Executive Officer of FAB said that throughout 2022 the bank continued to build and leverage on its strengths, reaffirming itself as a leading regional bank, with the unique perspective and sense of ambition that our home in the UAE provides.

“In 2022, FAB facilitated over $9 billion worth of sustainable projects, in line with a target of 75 billion by 2030. In this past year, more than half our bond issuances were in a green format, and we have grown our range of sustainable accounts, loans and finance offerings to support our customers in achieving their own sustainability goals. FAB is not limited by today’s challenges. Rather, we challenge the limits of what is possible,” Al Rostamani said during the bank’s General Assembly Meeting today.

“We are using the scale, specialisation and the transformative power of our partnerships and technology to deliver smarter and more agile solutions to build a bank fit for the future, built around our customers. Our investments in technology have successfully created a digital-first experience across most client and customer interactions. Through strategic partnerships and targeted investments, we are building new capabilities, enabling us to capitalise on increasingly specialised customer segments and market opportunities. As we diversify and expand our business, our fundamental ethos is geared towards not just defining the future but bringing it to life for our clients and other stakeholders.
“We have strategically expanded our global footprint as a key differentiator for FAB, adding representation in new markets to reinforce our role as a trusted partner for clients. We facilitate cross border trade, investment and liquidity flows, while consolidating our presence in the MENA’s largest markets, notably Egypt where we are now among the largest international banks,” she added.

“By adding both depth and specialisation to our offering – we are realising our full potential as the driving force in the region’s economic growth, a global partner for investment and corporate clients, and the most trusted bank for consumers in our largest markets. Building on this success, in 2023 and beyond, we are proactively shaping the future with purposeful action for sustainable growth. We are delivering on our ambition to move from being just another bank for our clients, to becoming their most trusted global partner – as an innovative and agile institution, fit for the future, with a growth strategy built on powering economic progress,” she noted.
“FAB continues to be ranked as one of the world’s largest, safest and most socially responsible banks, with a global presence across 20 markets from the Americas to Asia, known for consistently delivering results, generating returns and creating value. For more than 50 years, our Group has been shaping our region’s economic growth and powering international trade and investment connections. We are now leading the next era of this economic journey – in close alignment with the UAE’s national agenda – through comprehensive, digitally connected offerings to support trade and commerce.”
FAB, she continued, “will continue to earn the trust and loyalty of our clients and other stakeholders, through purposeful actions as an agile, global bank rooted in the UAE.
Our global management team is drawn from the world’s top banks and companies, bringing an extensive and complementary set of skills and experiences to execute our strategy across the Group, building on more than five decades of sustained success and returns.

‘While at each level of our organisation, we are actively upskilling and further developing the talent and skills we need now and well into the foreseeable future. FAB’s growth strategy is underpinned by our position as one of the most profitable and safest banks in the world, with a robust liquidity and capital position, and the strongest combined credit rating – AA- or equivalent – of any bank in the MENA region. We are an international, future-focused organisation committed to driving sustainable shareholder returns. We maintain the highest standards for corporate governance, ESG accountability, transparency and risk management. Sound ethics and strong governance are key to our success in over 20 markets where we are regulated, including in the world’s leading financial centres. Our ambition to lead in the low-carbon future is clear through our pioneering membership of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance – FAB being the first GCC and MENA bank to commit to net-zero, and support the UAE’s ambition – and our active role as an enabler to the regional energy transition.”

WAM