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  • License Categories

    • LR-A.1.5

      Conventional bank licensees are divided into two sub-categories: conventional retail bank licensees and conventional wholesale bank licensees. Certain specific regulatory requirements may differ between these two sub-categories, where appropriate to address their different risk profiles.

    • LR-A.1.6

      Conventional retail bank licensees may undertake transactions in any currency, with both Bahraini residents and non-residents. To qualify as a conventional retail bank licensee, the activity of providing credit must account for a significant portion of the institution's business (defined, broadly, as accounting for over 20% of an institution's assets).

    • LR-A.1.7

      Conventional wholesale bank licensees may also undertake transactions without restriction, when dealing with the Government of Bahrain and its agencies; BMA bank licensees; and non-residents. However, they may only undertake transactions denominated in Bahraini Dinar and/or with a resident of the Kingdom of Bahrain, if these are wholesale in nature. Wholesale transactions are defined in terms of transaction size (broadly, BD 7 million or more for a credit or deposit transaction, and US$ 250,000 or more for an investment transaction).

    • LR-A.1.8

      Collectively, licensed providers of regulated banking services are called conventional bank licensees. Bahrain-incorporated conventional bank licensees are called Bahraini conventional bank licensees. Conventional bank licensees that are incorporated in an overseas jurisdiction and operate via a branch presence in the Kingdom of Bahrain are called overseas conventional bank licensees. The same naming convention applies to the two sub-categories of conventional bank license: thus, Bahraini conventional retail bank licensees and Bahraini conventional wholesale bank licensees are those incorporated in Bahrain, whilst overseas conventional retail bank licensees and overseas conventional wholesale bank licensees are those incorporated in an overseas jurisdiction and operating in Bahrain via a branch presence.