Arab Jordan Investment Bank to acquire Standard Chartered’s business in Jordan

Arab Jordan Investment Bank and Standard Chartered Bank have entered into an agreement for the acquisition of Standard Chartered’s business in Jordan on March 26, following the approval of the Central Bank of Jordan.

Under the agreement, the corporate, commercial and institutional banking (CCIB), and consumer, private and business banking (CPBB) businesses of Standard Chartered in Jordan will move to Arab Jordan Investment Bank.

Additionally, all Standard Chartered Bank Jordan’s employees will also be transferred to the Jordanian bank.

The two banks will work closely in the coming months to provide a seamless transition for its clients and staff, according to the statement released.

بنك الاستثمار العربي الأردني (AJIB)

يوقّع اتفاقية للاستحواذ على أعمال بنك ستاندرد تشارترد في الأردن

لمزيد من المعلومات يرجى زيارة الرابط التالي:https://t.co/NfQwHAkMue#AJIB pic.twitter.com/LTTtavRiSo

— AJIB Bank (@AJIB_Bank) March 26, 2023

According to Sunil Kaushal, the regional chief executive office of Standard Chartered Bank in Africa and the Middle East, the agreement with AJIB for the sale of the bank’s business in Jordan is aligned with Standard Chartered’s global strategy to deliver efficiencies, reduce complexity, as well as redirect resources within the Africa and Middle East region to areas with the greatest potential to drive scale, grow and better support clients.

“Our agreement with AJIB will allow us to accelerate our strategy and leverage on their track record of previous acquisitions to meet the financial needs of our clients.

“We will work closely with AJIB to service the needs of our global clients in Jordan. While we will be selling our local business, we will continue to facilitate and be a bridge for international capital flows into Jordan,” added Kaushal.

Arab Jordan Investment Bank, StanChart to work closely to ease transition

Hani Al-Qadi, chairman of the Board of Directors of Arab Jordan Investment Bank, stated, “We are pleased to sign this agreement and to have been selected by Standard Chartered Bank as the preferred buyer.

“Standard Chartered Bank is a leading regional and international bank with more than 160 years of experience, the bank has been present in Jordan for more than 98 years. We are also pleased to announce that this agreement has already been approved by the regulatory authorities.

“We look forward to working closely with Standard Chartered’s team over the coming few months towards achieving a successful conclusion to this transaction without impact on clients and employees.”

This purchase falls within Arab Jordan Investment Bank’s  strategy to grow its banking business market share in Jordan, which continues to expand following the bank’s series of landmark acquisitions of HSBC’s banking business in Jordan in 2014 and the National Bank of Kuwait’s banking business in Jordan in 2022.

Read: Standard Chartered faces fresh questions after report of First Abu Dhabi Bank takeover bid

In other news, in October, Arab Jordan Investment Bank partnered with Codebase Technologies, one of the world’s fastest-growing open API banking solutions providers, to launch digital onboarding for resident and non-resident Jordanians.

Arab Jordan Investment Bank and Codebase Technologies’ combined experience in the banking and technology sectors is helping millions of customers to easily open a new banking account and access various financial services using a completely digital onboarding process.

The Digibanc platform’s microservices-based architecture is also enabling the bank to adopt new digital-first innovations faster than ever.