Kuwait Finance House


Kuwait Finance House was established in the State of Kuwait, in 1977, as the first bank operating in accordance with the Islamic Shari'a. KFH is listed in Kuwait Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of $8.2 billion as of May 2016. Assets total $55.52 billion and deposits amount to $34.97 billion

History

Kuwait Finance House was established in 1977 as Kuwait’s first Islamic bank. It received 170 applications to open new accounts on its first day of operation on 31 August 1978. KFH opened in temporary headquarters on Ahmad Al-Jaber Street, before moving to the Emad Commercial Center in 1983 and then its present-day location on Abdullah Al-Mubarek Street in 1986. By 1983, KFH was the only Islamic Bank listed on the Banker’s list of the top 100 Arab Banks. In 1984, KFH was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. In 1989, KFH’s subsidiary in Turkey, Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank, was established by a Turkish cabinet decree.
KFH Capital Investment Company was formed in 1999 to invest in the public equity, private equity, and real estate markets across the globe. KFH Capital is the main investment of the bank, with offices in Safat, Kuwait and Oman.
In 2002, KFH opened its first branch in Bahrain and in 2005 KFH Malaysia was established, becoming the first Islamic bank to be granted a license in the county under the 1983 Islamic Banking Act. Since then, KFH and Kuveyt Turk have established a presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE and Germany.
In July 2017, KFH studied a merger with Ahli United Bank.

Activities

KFH provides Islamic Shari'a compliant products and services, covering banking, real estate, trade finance, investment portfolios, and other products and services.
Since the 1980s, KFH has witnessed multi-activity in international expansion. It has established independent banks in Turkey, Bahrain, and Malaysia. Moreover, it has stakes in other Islamic banks. Its investment activities in the US, Europe, South East Asia and the Middle East contributed to achieving the growing profit of KFH.
KFH is a major player in the international sukuk market, the volume of which for KFH trading group reached USD 11.4 billion in 2016.
According to the KFH website, until January 2017, KFH ran the following subsidiaries: