August 3, 1991: BCCE becomes Union National Bank

In a surprise move an Emiri Decree has changed the name of the Bank of Credit and Commerce Emirates to Union National Bank. The decree was issued by His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The move comes as a surprise because until the announcement, the bank was expected to be renamed Emirates Union Bank. It is understood that Union National Bank was chosen instead to avoid any confusion with other banks in the emirates. The decree stipulates in its second article that the bank, with its new name, will be committed to all existing rights and obligations related to BCCE before the name change. The rules contravening the regulations of this decree will be null and void. Members of the bank’s board met but it is understood that so far no decision has yet been taken on the question of whether BCCE should go ahead with the acquisition of the operations of BCCI in Pakistan.

Other important events:

1460 King James II of Scotland is killed by the blast of cannon saluting the arrival of his wife, Queen Mary, at Roxburgh Castle.

1589 Henry of Navarre, first of the Bourbon line, succeeds Henry III as king of France.

1675 French defeat Dutch and Spanish fleets and annex Sicily.

1858 English explorer John Speke discovers Lake Victoria.

1900 The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company is established in Akron, Ohio.

1911 Airplanes are used for the first time in a military capacity when Italian planes reconnoitre Turkish lines near Tripoli.

1914 Germany declares war on France.

1933 The Mickey Mouse watch goes on sale for the first time.

1936 Jesse Owens wins the 100 metre dash, defeating Ralph Metcalfe, at the Berlin Olympics.

1958 Submarine USS Nautilus makes the first undersea voyage to geographic North Pole.

1960 Niger gains independence from France.

1974 The Front for the Liberation of Mozambique declares a de facto ceasefire between rebel and Portuguese troops.

1989 Hashemi Rafsanjani is sworn in as President of Iran.

1992 Millions of South African blacks join a nationwide strike against white-led rule.

1993 UN begins its withdrawal of 20,000 peacekeepers in Cambodia.

1996 Denmark’s defence chief Admiral Hans Joergen Garde is killed in a Royal Danish Air Force plane crash in the Faroe Islands.

1997 Mohammad Khatami takes over as president of Iran.

2003 At least 31 people are killed when a huge blast causes a three-storey building to collapse in India’s western state of Gujarat.

2004 Nasa launches a messenger to Mercury, the first spacecraft in 30 years to head to the sun’s closest planet.

2005 Mauritania’s army oust President Maaouya Ould Taya.

2008 More than 145 people are killed and 50 injured in a stampede at a Hindu shrine in Himachal Pradesh, India.

2010 South Africa’s former police chief and the ex-president of Interpol, Jackie Selebi is jailed for 15 years for accepting bribes from organised crime.

2013 Al Ain Football team sign Brazilian footballer Michel Bastos for €4 million.

2014 A strong earthquake strikes in southern China’s Yunnan province and killing more than 367 people.

2015 A new large-scale leisure, residential and hospitality development called Meydan One is launched in Dubai.