The story
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, and on 25th September 2022 KFH completed the merger of Ahli United Bank by BHD 4.1billion.
KFH was ranked fifth on Forbes Middle East's 30 Most Valuable Banks 2025 list. It also ranked ninth on Forbes Middle East's Top 100 Listed Companies 2025 list.
From Wikipedia’s article on Kuwait Finance House, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4