The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) is the
central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...
of
Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
. It is a public corporate entity that was established by the ''Central Bank of Bahrain and Financial Institutions Law 2006.'' on 6 September 2006.
''Decree No. 64 of 2006 with respect to promulgating the Central Bank of Bahrain and Financial Institutions Law'' established the Central Bank of Bahrain in place of the Bahrain Monetary Agency. The Bank is located in the
Diplomatic Area of
Manama
Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...
, in Bahrain.
Its responsibilities include, implement monetary policy, supervise and regulate the banking sector, acting as the government's fiscal agent, encouraging the growth of Bahrain as a major international financial centre, and to manage the foreign currency, cash and gold reserves of the Kingdom.
History
It was established in 1973 as the Bahrain Monetary Agency, shortly after Bahrain gained its independence from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, replacing the
Bahrain Currency Board that had been created in 1965. The bank also houses a coin and currency museum with collections dating back to 653 AD.
The Bank on April 29, 2022 announced new regulations containing rules regarding equity-based crowdfunding and financing-based crowdfunding and are covered under Crowdfunding Platform Operators Module (Module CFP). Module CFP will be found under CBB Rule book – Volume 5: Type 7 – Ancillary Service Providers.
The current Central Bank of Bahrain governor is Rasheed Al Maraj. In November 2014, he decided to further develop the kingdom's growing insurance sector. He acknowledged the necessity for the Central Bank to co-operate with the insurance market to support the insurance sector, also insisting on the insurance firms' obligations to fulfill their social responsibility. The Central Bank governor is the chairman of the board of directors of the
Bahrain Bourse
The Bahrain Bourse, also called the Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE), is the stock exchange of Bahrain. As at 2017, 42 companies were listed on the exchange. The exchange operates from Sunday to Thursday. Three indices track the Bahrain Bourse (BHB) ...
.
Governors
*
Abdullah Hassan Saif, 1979 – May 1999
*
Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, 1999–2002
*
Ahmed bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, 2002 – January 2005
*
Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, January 2005
– February 2024
*
Khalid Humaidan, February 2024
See also
*
Bahraini dinar
The dinar ( ') (sign: or BD; code: BHD) is the currency of Bahrain. It is divided into 1000 fils (). The Bahraini dinar is abbreviated (Arabic) or ''BD'' (Latin). It is usually represented with three decimal places denoting the fils.
The name ...
*
Economy of Bahrain
*
List of banks in Bahrain
The following is a list of banks and financial institutions in Bahrain as of 30 June 2015:
Central Bank
* Central Bank of Bahrain
Conventional banks
Islamic banks
See also
* List of banks in the Arab world
References
{{Asia topic, Lis ...
*
List of banks in the Arab world
The following is a list of banks in the Arab World. The modern system of Arab banks was created in Egypt in the late 19th century, with the campaign of modernizing the country. Today Arab banks are among the most pioneering in Developing countries ...
*
List of central banks
This is a list of central banks.
Central banks by alphabetical order
This is a list of central banks. Countries that are only partially recognized internationally are marked with an asterisk (*).
Major central banks by currency allocation p ...
References
External links
*
1973 establishments in Bahrain
Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
Banks of Bahrain
Banks established in 1973
Financial regulatory authorities
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