Arab Bank is one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East, founded in 1930 in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, as the first private sector financial institution in the Arab world. Headquartered today in Amman, Jordan, it serves clients in more than 600 branches spanning five continents. Arab Bank is a publicly held shareholding company listed on the Amman Stock Exchange. In the 1940s and 1950s, the bank grew to 43 branches and had JOD 5.5 million capital. During the 1960s, the bank focused on investments and became a catalyst for Arab economic developments when most other financial institutions avoided the risk.