In a move that surprised the international banking community, a decision made by The Central Bank of Egypt on the 29th of June, 2006, was the establishment of The United Bank. In order to activate the banking reform policy, which began in Egypt since 2003, to maintain strong banking entities, able to compete in the open market, and to support the overall Egyptian development. The United Bank acquired three weak entities that were not able to withstand the laws and policies of banking reform. Those three entities were: The ex-Egyptian United Bank, The ex-Islamic Bank for Development and Investment and The ex-Nile Bank.