'All options' open, says Gulf Bank

MASS RESIGNATION: Local newspapers have reported Gulf Bank's board plans to resign. (Getty Images)

Kuwait's Gulf Bank, which received emergency support after being hit by shock derivatives losses, said on Sunday it was considering "all options" including the resignation of its entire board and a capital hike.

"This is still possible... Everything is being considered. When we have something official we will announce it," general manager Fawzy Al-Thunayan told newswire Reuters when asked whether the board might resign as reported by several Kuwaiti newspapers.

Raising capital was also still a possibility, he added, but declined to specify whether sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) might buy a stake in the bank as reported by local papers.

Finance Minister Mustapha Al-Shamali said last week the government was ready to invest in a capital increase by the troubled lender if the bank's shareholders failed to secure the funds.

Two local newspapers said on Saturday reported the executive board of the troubled Kuwaiti lender was expected to resign.

Daily Al-Qabas said in an unsourced report the board would resign on Sunday in agreement with the central bank which last Sunday stepped in to support the bank, while Al-Rai newspaper also said the board was on its way out, citing an unidentified board member.

Al-Qabas said the central bank would grant the lender a loan worth 400 million dinars to support its business. Gulf Bank has so far not specified losses from derivative deals.

Gulf Bank's chairman Kutayba Al-Ghanim meanwhile told CNBC Arabiya station that customers had withdrawn about 37 million dinars ($136.9 million) of its overall deposits worth 4 billion dinars since the bank unveiled its problems with derivatives.

Kuwait has decided to guarantee deposits at all banks as a result of the Gulf Bank case.

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