Sharjah’s two banks – Bank of Sharjah and Invest Bank – are in merger talks. If the efforts succeed, the resulting entity would be an institution with about 50.6 billion dirhams ($13.8 billion) of assets. The two banks have been holding talks for nearly a year. The tie-up between two of the UAE’s smallest banks was being driven by authorities in the emirate of Sharjah. Bank of Sharjah is 22.2% owned by the Sharjah government, its top shareholder. The biggest shareholder in Invest Bank, which is slightly smaller in terms of assets, is Sharjah-based International Private Group, which owns 15.5%. About 50 banks operate in the UAE, making it a crowded market for a population of about 9 million people.
