The GCC Banking Sector

In this paper, we analyze the evolution of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banking sectors in the six member countries including ownership, concentration, cross-border linkages, balance sheet exposures and risks, recent trends in credit growth, and financial soundness. We identify risks to the banking sector''s financial stability in the context of the current global crisis and their mitigating factors.Banking sector;Asset management;Bank soundness;Capital;Credit expansion;Credit risk;Household credit;Liquidity;banking, national bank, banking system, central bank, monetary fund, banking sectors, banking fees, interest expense, income statement, banking sector assets, bankers, retail banking, liquidity ratio, capital adequacy, bank loans, banking sector liquidity, investment bank, banks ? balance sheets, banks ? asset, banking products, bank profitability, bank ownership, monetary authority, debt restructuring, gross operating income, tier 1 capital, banking systems, investment banking, state bank, government securities, equity investment, bank branches, capital base, bank ratings, bank assets, banks ? loans, bank lending, foreign exchange, bank liquidity, market for government securities, bank borrowing, return on equity, capital adequacy ratio, banking system assets, holding company, bank liabilities, liquidity management, banking statistics, banks ? loan, bank license, government securities holdings, bank intermediation, banking industry, bank performance, banking corporation, bank credit