MANAMA, BAHRAIN – 25 June 2013 – Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, earned a prestigious regional award in recognition of its corporate governance policies.
“Ithmaar Bank was chosen from among banks across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia for the Hawkamah Bank Corporate Governance Award, a regional initiative that aims to recognize, support and encourage superior governance practices in the banking sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region,” said Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board, Mohammed Bucheerei. “This prestigious award is a result of Ithmaar Bank’s commitment to applying international best practice applications across our operations and, in particular, with regards to our corporate governance policies,” he said.
Launched in 2007 by Hawkamah, the Institute for Corporate Governance, the Award showcases banks that have gone the extra mile in improving their corporate governance practices, beyond the legal and regulatory requirements imposed by their respective jurisdictions. Each application is assessed against multiple criteria, including Disclosure and Transparency, Stakeholder/Shareholders Rights, Commitment to Good Corporate Governance, and Control Environment and Processes.
The Award was received by Ithmaar Bank Assistant General Manager, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, Tawfiq Al Bastaki, at a large ceremony attended by more than 500 senior bankers from across the region.
Bucheerei said the Award stands testimony to the Bank’s growing success and underscores its commitment to becoming the region’s premier Islamic retail bank.
“Ithmaar is firmly committed to becoming the region’s premier Islamic retail and commercial bank as we continue to increase our focus on core banking activities while working towards restructuring our investment portfolio,” said Bucheerei. “Ithmaar now boasts one of the largest retail banking networks in Bahrain with 17 full service branches and 43 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in 26 strategic locations around the Kingdom. We will continue to work towards further developing our core retail business in the year ahead with the commissioning of additional new branches as well as the introduction of new products and services,” he said.
Ithmaar’s achievements have helped earn the Bank international kudos, with the Bank’s Mobicash offering earning multiple awards including the “Best Mobile Banking Service” award at the Banker Middle East Products Award 2013 and the prestigious UN-based “World Summit Award mobile (WSA-mobile)”.