The UK’s HSBC confirmed it is in talks about selling its 49 per cent stake in British Arab Commercial Bank (BACB), a UK bank which specialises in trade and project finance in Arab countries.
“HSBC confirms that it has been in discussions concerning a reorganisation of the shareholdings in BACB, including a possible reduction in the interest held by HSBC,” the bank said in a statement on 21 April.
“These discussions continue and no decision has been made,” it added.
The HSBC stake in BACB is held through HSBC Middle East, the Dubai-based subsidiary through which the bank operates in the region.
HSBC said the Middle East remains a key part of the company’s strategy in emerging markets.
The chairman of Libyan Foreign Bank, Mohamed Beit el-Mal, said on 20 April that he hoped to increase the bank’s stake in BACB from 26 per cent to 70 per cent.
BACB’s other shareholders are the Central Bank of Egypt, Morocco’s Bank al-Maghrib, and Algeria’s Banque Exterieure d’Algerie.
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