Veteran banker Ibrahim Dabdoub has many reasons to be happy. His bank, the National Bank of Kuwait, posted record net profits of $1bn in 2007, and followed that with another high of $309m in the first quarter of this year, up 28 per cent compared with the same period in 2007.

The chief executive seems to have steered clear of the subprime crisis and has expanded the bank – one of the Arab world’s largest – with acquisitions in Egypt and Turkey. He is also working on plans to launch the first Islamic private bank in Switzerland in partnership with a Saudi institution.