Bank of Palestine

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Bank of Palestine
بنك فلسطين
Logo of the Bank of Palestine
Logo of the Bank of Palestine
HeadquartersRamallah, Ain Misbah, Palestine
Established1960
ChairmanHashim Shawa
Websitehttps://bop.ps
Bank of Palestine

The Bank of Palestine (BoP; Arabic: بنك فلسطين), is a Palestinian multinational banking organization founded in Gaza in 1960.[1] It is headquartered in Ramallah, West Bank and is the leading financial institution in Palestine, with a net worth of $6.5 billion USD.[2]

History[edit]

The bank was established in Gaza City in 1960, making it the first in Palestine.[3] Hasheem Atta Shawa founded it as an agricultural bank to help farmers develop their citrus business since Shawa's family was also in the citrus business at the time. The bank helped farmers with loans for farming equipment.[4]

In the early 1990s, Dr. Hani Shawa took over in running the bank.[4] Hashim Shawa, aged 31, became chairman and CEO of the bank after his father passed away in 2007.[4] Since then, the bank has about 1,980 employees and serves over 900,000 customers.[5]

In 2019, the bank was the target of an amended complaint titled Singer v. Bank of Palestine (case number: 1:19-cv-00006)[6] which claimed that the bank aided Hamas by providing financial services and maintaining accounts for the "terrorist organization".[7] The Bank of Palestine claimed that there was no legal basis behind the plaintiffs' claims and that they were taking "prompt and strong measures" to get the lawsuit dismissed.[8]

Locations[edit]

The Bank of Palestine is the most geographically distributed banking corporation in Palestine, with 74 branches and sub-branches.[9][10] The bank's head office is located in Ramallah, Palestine. It also has representative offices in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Santiago, Chile.[11]

Philanthropy[edit]

In 2016, Bank of Palestine launched "NAHJ Project" to support school entrepreneurship in Jerusalem schools.[12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Bank of Palestine - SME loan, WiB loan, TFP limit". www.ebrd.com. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Hashim Shawa". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Disclosure". disclosures.ifc.org. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Banking on peace: Bank of Palestine's Hashim Shawa". Arabian Business.
  5. ^ "Bank of Palestine". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Singer et al v. Bank of Palestine". www.law360.com. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Bank of Palestine Case". Osen LLC. 27 January 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  8. ^ https://bopwebsitestorage.blob.core.windows.net/assets/documents/ClCPbHREM8pACBeSn8av6TNUaInOhaQlKVxgj2Ta.pdf
  9. ^ "branches". Palestine Investment Bank. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Bank of Palestine, Ramallah, Palestine | Head office, address, tel, website and swift code". m.banksdaily.com. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Contact us". Bank of Palestine.
  12. ^ "The launch of "NAHJ" project to support school entrepreneurship in Jerusalem schools". Bank of Palestine. Retrieved 1 February 2024.