Emirates NBD wins record eight awards at Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2025

4 Min | 12 June 2025

Bank wins five regional awards including “Middle East’s Best Bank 2025” showcasing a landmark year of strategic expansion, digital leadership and financial performance
Winner of three UAE awards including “UAE’s Best Bank”, “UAE’s Best Bank for ESG” and “UAE’s Best Investment Bank for Equity Capital Markets (ECM)”

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 12 June 2025: Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye (MENAT) region, is celebrating its success at the Euromoney Middle East Awards for Excellence 2025 with eight new wins.

Surpassing its 2024 performance at the awards, Emirates NBD has won five regional awards including the “Middle East’s Best Bank”. Recording exceptional financial performance in 2024, Emirates NBD announced net profit of AED 23 billion, up 7%, while credit showed standout growth. Emirates NBD’s international operations now account for 31% of total income, reflecting the success of its expansion strategy across the GCC, Asia and Europe.

Emirates NBD was also a pioneer in sustainable finance innovation, winning the titles of “Middle East’s Best Bank for ESG” and “Middle East’s Best ESG Deal 2025”. In 2024, the bank issued the world’s first sustainability-linked loan financing bond aligned with the updated International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and Loan Market Association (LMA) guidelines, raising USD 500 million. Launching its first sustainable fixed deposit, the bank attracted USD 100 million in inflows. Emirates NBD Capital, the global investment bank for Emirates NBD Group, facilitated more than USD 34 billion in sustainable finance during the year – ranking as a top 12 global coordinator of emerging market ESG-labelled bonds.

With an 11% revenue increase from the SME segment, the bank’s performance reflected its deep commitment to entrepreneurship, economic diversification and digital innovation, earning the accolade of “Middle East’s Best Bank for SMEs” at the awards. Digitisation continued to underpin Emirates NBD’s SME strategy. In 2024, approximately 80% of Emirate NBD’s SME accounts were opened digitally, supported by the bank’s end-to-end digital customer onboarding journey.

Emirates NBD also won the award for the “Middle East’s Best Bank for Customer Experience”, having undertaken a comprehensive customer experience transformation over the past 18 months, embedding it across every level of its operations, governance, culture and technology infrastructure, to improve every major customer touchpoint.

In parallel, Emirates NBD achieved resounding success at the national level with three awards for “UAE’s Best Bank”, “UAE’s Best Bank for ESG” and “UAE’s Best Investment Bank for Equity Capital Markets (ECM) 2025”, showcasing asset growth year-on-year of 16% with the bank registering a significant AED 160 billion (USD 43.6 billion) in new loans and maintaining a one-third market share of UAE credit cards. The bank’s investment banking arm, Emirates NBD Capital, dominated UAE IPOs, advising on prominent ECM transactions such as the largest grocery retail IPO in MENA for Lulu Retail and the Spinneys IPO, helping attract strong investor demand from various investor categories. Emirates NBD’s substantial contributions to sustainable finance were exemplified by its mobilisation of over USD 34.3 billion in sustainable finance, placing it among the top global coordinators for emerging market ESG bonds.

Shayne Nelson, Group Chief Executive Officer at Emirates NBD, commented: “We are delighted to win eight awards this year at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence. Emirates NBD continues to perform and transform as one of the UAE’s largest banks and the most profitable financial institution in the region. Through the transition, we endeavour to build deeper connections with our customers by providing immersive experiences. This association, along with our commitment to sustainability, brings deeper loyalty at a time when ESG-centred choices are becoming the norm. As a homegrown financial institution, Emirates NBD prides itself on offering customers unparalleled financial solutions, strengthening our leadership in banking innovation in the country and the region.”

The prestigious recognition at the Euromoney Middle East Award for Excellence 2025 is the latest in a series of accolades received by the bank. Emirates NBD was awarded “Middle East’s Best Bank for SMEs”, “UAE’s Best Bank for SMEs”, “UAE's Best Bank for Corporates”, and “Middle East's Best Bank for Wealth Management” at the 2024 edition of the Euromoney Awards for Excellence. The bank was also lauded at the 2024 awards by The Banker, namely ‘Bank of the Year in the UAE 2024’ and ‘Best Private Bank in the UAE’.

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