Tripoli— Mr. Abdulla Ammar Al-Saudi, a prominent Libyan banker and a major figure in the financial world of the Middle East died on Tuesday 23 September 2025. He was recognized as a respected international banker with a career spanning more than 50 years. In 1976, he struck a deal with the Italian major automobile manufacturer as it was facing a financial crisis at the time.
Al-Saudi’s name associated with an influential banking career in Libya and in the Gulf region mainly in Bahrain. He founded the Arab Banking Corporation (ABC) in 1980 and led it as CEO between 1980 and 1994.
Originally established to catch Bahrain’s offshore banking boom, ABC expanded into the syndicated loan market and grew to become one of the Middle East’s largest investment banks. Alayam newspaper of Bahrain described Al-Saudi as the one who “consolidated Bahrain’s presence as a regional banking center.”
He was forced to resign from ABC in 1994 when the United States threatened to impose sanctions on the financial corporation if he remained as its head. An ABC statement on 28 February 1994, said: ‘Notwithstanding record-breaking results for 1993, the board of directors reluctantly agreed with the president and chief executive that, owing to external circumstances, such a decision was necessary to protect shareholders’ interests and safeguard the bank’s future.’
Discussing who would succeed Al-Saudi at the time, one regional banker told MEED in March 1994, “Whatever happens there will be a vacuum. There are three or four very strong managers within the bank, but ABC was shaped in the style of one man and his huge abilities – and replacing him will not be easy.”
Al-Saudi became famous in the banking and business world when he, as Director of Libyan Arab Foreign Bank, closed a deal with the giant Italian carmaker FIAT in December 1976 in Rome, whereby Libya purchased 10 percent of Fiat at $415 million. In 1986, Libya, under pressure from the United States, sold its lucrative stake in the Italian company at $3 billion.
Earlier, Mr. Al-Saudi founded the Libyan Foreign Bank in 1972 in Tripoli, Libya and served as its CEO from 1972 to 1980. He also founded Arab Financial Services Company (AFO). With over five decades of experience, Al-Saudi held various leadership roles, including President of the United Bank for Commerce and Investment (UBCI) in Libya.
He also established the Abdullah Al Saudi & Associates consulting firm in Bahrain and served on the Board of Directors of the Lebanese Credit Bank in Beirut and Al Baraka Banking Group BSC. This is in addition to the founding of the Arab Financial Services Company and the ABC Islamic Bank, consolidating Bahrain’s presence as a regional banking center.
During his career, Al-Saudi received numerous prestigious honors, most notably the “Arab Banking Personality of the Year” award in 1993 from the Union of Arab Banks, the “Best Banking Personality” award in 1990 from the Arab American Banking Association, and the “Most Innovative Banking Personality” title from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1980.
He also received a medal from the King of Spain, the Gold Medal from the President of Italy in 1977, the Grand Medal from the President of the Tunisian Republic in 1993, the Arab Integrity Award in 2012, and the Arab Banking Personality of the Year award in Beirut in 2018.