{{Short description|Financial group, formerly The Saudi American Bank}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox company | name = Samba Financial Group SJSC | logo = Samba logo.png | logo_size = 200px | trade_name = SAMBA | former_name = The Saudi American Bank

Samba Bank | type = Public | traded_as = {{Saudi Stock Exchange|1090}} | foundation = {{Start date and age|df=y|1980|02|12}} | location = Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | num_locations = 72 Branch<br />534 ATMs | key_people = Ammar Abdulwahed Alkhudairy (Chairman)<br />Rania Nashar (Managing Director and CEO) | assets = 237,341,834 SAR {{small|(30 September 2019)}} | equity = 44,576,646 SAR {{small|(30 September 2019)}} | num_employees = | ISIN = {{ISIN|sl=n|pl=y|SA0007879097}} | industry = Financial services | defunct = 1 April 2021 | fate = Merged with Saudi National Bank | products = | homepage = https://www.samba.com/en/personal-banking/index.aspx (defunct) | revenue = | operating_income = 2,195,238 SAR {{small|(30 September 2019)}} }}{{main|Saudi National Bank}} '''Samba Financial Group SJSC''', formerly known as '''The Saudi American Bank''', was a multinational banking firm based in Saudi Arabia. The combined institution had 66 branches in the Kingdom.<ref name="citisell" /><ref name="history">{{Cite web |url=http://www.samba.com/en/about-us/our-group/history.html |title=Samba: Our History |access-date=7 April 2017 |archive-date=4 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104103709/http://www.samba.com/en/about-us/our-group/history.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Samba merged with NCB to form Saudi National Bank on 1 April 2021.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2021-04-01|title=Saudi Arabia achieves new milestone in banking sector|url=https://arab.news/2ch65|access-date=2021-04-01|website=Arab News|language=en}}</ref>

== History == Samba was established on 12 February 1980 with the takeover of Citibank branches in Jeddah and Riyadh under a Saudi requirement that forced all foreign banks to be at least 60% owned by Saudi nationals.<ref name=citisell>{{cite web|url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/250201|title=Citigroup to Sell 20% Stake in Samba Financial Group|author=M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan|publisher=Arab News|date=28 May 2004}}</ref> Citigroup entered a Technical Management Agreement under which it agreed to manage the new bank. The former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, was the Managing Director of the bank in the 1990s.

Citibank opened its Jeddah branch in 1955, and its Riyadh branch in 1966. Citibank created Samba, in which it took a 40% share, to take over its branches in Saudi Arabia, under a Royal Decree on 12 February 1980. In 1985 Samba opened a branch in Istanbul that it closed after 1994, and at one point maintained a subsidiary in Geneva and a Representative office in Beirut. In the late 1980s, Samba opened a branch in London.

In July 1999, Samba merged with United Saudi Bank to form one of the largest banks in the Middle East. Before the merger, Citibank owned 30 percent of Samba, having sold a 10 percent tranche to two public agencies in 1991. After the merger, Citibank was still the largest shareholder with 23 percent of the shares. Kingdom Holding Company (owned by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal) also had a large share ownership, deriving from his ownership in United Saudi Bank.

In 2003, the bank's name was officially changed to Samba Financial Group, and all references to Saudi American Bank were removed. This name change followed Citibank's decision to pull out of Saudi Arabia and sell its then 20% stake. Officially, this was done due to the anticipated relaxation of laws governing foreign banks' operations in the Kingdom. Some speculate that this was due to rising anti-American sentiment in Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, SABB is still an HSBC partnership and they have changed their artwork and colors from green and white to the HSBC logo.

Samba Financial group was the first in the banking sector to simplify the process of transferring money overseas within hours. This was led by general manager Akhtar Aalam.

In 2004, Citibank sold its remaining stake in the company.<ref name=citisell/><ref name=history/>

In March 2007, Samba Financial Group acquired 68% of Crescent Commercial Bank Limited (CCBL) in Pakistan. CCBL, established in 2002, was formerly known as Mashreq Bank Pakistan Limited, which in turn was the result of the merger in 2003 of Crescent Investment Bank Limited and the Pakistan branches of Mashreq Bank psc. CCBL is now named Samba Bank Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Monteiro |first=Leandra |date=June 21, 2022 |title=Samba Bank Pakistan goes live with BPC |url=https://ibsintelligence.com/ibsi-news/samba-bank-pakistan-goes-live-with-bpc/ |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=IBS Intelligence |language=en-US}}</ref> It currently operates 37 branches across Pakistan; the bank hopes to expand its network of branches in 2018.

In June 2008, Samba opened the first integrated branch in Dubai, UAE.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.samba.com/en/about-us/our-group/our-approach.html|title=Samba: Our Approach|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130064208/http://www.samba.com/en/about-us/our-group/our-approach.html|archive-date=30 November 2019|access-date=12 November 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2010, Samba opened the first branch in Doha, Qatar.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Samba Financial launches Qatar branch=|url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/343609|work=Arab News}}</ref>

In August 2011, Samba made the list of top ten safest banks 2011 in the Middle East ranked at number four.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/388477|title=Saudi Arabia hosts 5 out of 10 safest banks in ME - Arab News|work=arabnews.com|year=2011|quote=Samba Financial Group|accessdate=25 August 2011}}</ref>

In 2017, Rania Nashar was named CEO. This makes Samba the first listed Saudi commercial bank to have a female CEO.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.arabnews.com/node/1394961/saudi-arabia|title=FaceOf: Rania Nashar, CEO of Samba Financial Group - Arab News|work=arabnews.com|year=2017|quote=Samba Financial Group|accessdate=16 September 2019}}</ref>

In 2022, Samba merged into the National Commercial Bank, which established the largest bank in the Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news|title=NCB, Samba complete final phase of merger creating Saudi Arabia’s largest bank|url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/2000791/business-economy|work=Arab News}}</ref>

===International operations=== Its International Operations consist of a branch each in London, Doha, and Dubai, as well as a subsidiary that has 40 branches across major cities in Pakistan. The company dates back to 1955.<ref name="history" /> After a partial nationalization program by the Saudi government, Citibank owned a 40% stake in the company in 1980 but sold its remaining interest in 2004.<ref name="history" /><ref name="citisell" />

== NCB Samba Deal == {{main|Saudi National Bank}} Samba and NCB carried out a mega-merger worth 15.3 billion dollars. The Merger resulted in the creation of Arabian Gulf's third largest bank after Qatar National Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dudley|first=Dominic|title=Saudi Banks NCB And Samba Plan Mega-Merger Worth $15 Billion|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2020/06/25/samba-national-commercial-bank-mega-merger/|access-date=2020-07-04|website=Forbes|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Merger {{!}} NCB Samba Deal|url=https://www.ncbsambastronger.com/english|access-date=2021-02-02|website=NCB Samba Merger KSA|language=en}}</ref> The new Saudi National Bank (SNB) company was formed in April 2021.<ref name=":1"/>

The previous Samba name and branding continue to be used outside of Saudi Arabia. Within Saudi Arabia, all Samba and NCB branding was switched to the new SNB branding.

==See also== {{Portal|Banks|Saudi Arabia}}

* List of banks in Saudi Arabia * List of banks in the Arab world ==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://dxb.samba.com/en/personal-banking/index.aspxg Samba Official Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203072435/https://dxb.samba.com/en/personal-banking/index.aspxg |date=3 December 2022 }} (Dubai) * [https://www.samba.com.pk/samba/personal-banking Samba Official Website] (Pakistan)

Category:1980 establishments in Saudi Arabia Category:2021 disestablishments in Saudi Arabia Category:Companies listed on Tadawul Category:Banks of Saudi Arabia Category:Companies based in Riyadh Category:Banks established in 1980 Category:Banks disestablished in 2021 Category:Multinational companies headquartered in Saudi Arabia Category:Saudi Arabian companies established in 1980 Category:Saudi Arabian companies disestablished in 2021