Sahara Bank
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The Sahara Bank () is a
Libyan Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the United Nations Demographic Yearbooks ...
commercial bank, established in 1964. The bank performs retail and corporate banking operations and its head office is located in
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...
.


History

The Sahara Bank was established in 1964 as a subsidiary of
Banco di Sicilia Banco di Sicilia was an Italian bank based in Palermo, Sicily. It was a subsidiary of UniCredit but absorbed into the parent company in 2010. History It was founded as ''Banco Regio dei Reali Domini al di là del Faro'' in 1849 and was renamed in ...
. On 22 December 1970, a law was passed that demanding that all foreign bank shares be nationalized and completely owned by
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
. As of 1991, the principal shareholder was
Central Bank of Libya The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) is the monetary authority in Libya. It has the status of an autonomous corporate body. The law establishing the CBL stipulates that the objectives of the central bank shall be to maintain monetary stability in Liby ...
with 82 per cent and Libyan Interests with the rest of 18 per cent. The bank had 751 employees in its roles. The head office of the bank was located in Libya's capital,
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...
. The bank was counted as one of the ten major banks under the control of the Central Bank of Libya. In July 2007, France's
BNP Paribas BNP Paribas (; sometimes referred to as BNPP or BNP) is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial instituti ...
acquired 19 per cent share of the Sahara bank. It also became the major shareholder and took over the operations. BNP pulled out of the operations of the bank in 2011, following revolutions in Libya.


Operations

The bank performs retail and commercial banking operations and offers international trade centre services. It also facilitates mass payments, POS payments, treasury services, car leasing,
Islamic Banking Islamic banking, Islamic finance ( ''masrifiyya 'islamia''), or Sharia-compliant finance is banking or financing activity that complies with Sharia (Islamic law) and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Some ...
, and Italian desk services. The bank provides fund transfer services like international transfers and treasury services to its corporate clients.


See also

*
List of banks in Libya This is a list of banks in Libya, as reported in 2024. List of banks * Agricultural Bank of Libya, state-owned * * Aman Bank for Commerce and Investment (ABCI) * Bank of Valletta * , state-owned * Libyan Foreign Bank, state-owned * Mediterrane ...


References

{{Portal, Banks Banks of Libya Banks established in 1964 BNP Paribas Economy of Tripoli, Libya