Manama: Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) and five of its subsidiary banking units received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution” Award of 2014, as part of the annual awards that the Global Finance magazine, which is specialized in banking and finance, awards to international banks and financial institutions.
Al Baraka Banking Group received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in Middle East and North Africa” Award, AlBaraka Bank Lebanon received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in Lebanon” Award, Jordan Islamic Bank received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in Jordan” Award as well as ”Best Islamic Retail Bank in Jordan” Award, Al Baraka Bank Limited received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in South Africa” Award, Al Baraka Islamic Bank Bahrain received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in Bahrain” Award and Banque Al Baraka D’Algerie received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in Algeria” Award.
The winning of these awards by ABG and its five subsidiary banking units was announced in a final result statement by the magazine’s Award Committee, which included in its membership, a number of economists and editors of Global Finance, international financial advisors and a number of bank managers and experts in the field of banking. ABG and its five banking units received these awards for their prominent role in the Islamic banking sector, their ability to achieve consistent growth in the future and meeting professional standards in terms of the quality of products and services offered to clients, as well as for their originality and innovation in services and customer service, continued development and innovation in banking operations and other important criteria such as strategic relationships, geographic reach, profitability and robustness of financial position.
The awards were received by Adnan Ahmed Yousif, Board Member and President and Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group on behalf of the wining Group’s units in a ceremony held in Washington at the same time as the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank and was attended by large audience of regional and international officials and banking leaders.
“We are very happy with the achievement of ABG and five of our banking units in winning this international award, which reflects the leading status that ABG enjoys after successful career filled with achievements over the last ten years from one side and the excellent banking position that these units occupy in their countries, their distinguished performance and services, and good reputation in the Islamic banking sector locally, regionally and globally from the other side,” Yousif said.
“The subsidiary banking units of our Group, through their long history in countries where they operate, have come to be amongst the leading financial institutions in servicing their communities and are most established in terms of their expertise and knowledge of the local markets, which reflect the success of Al Baraka Banking Group’s vision and strategy which are based on enhancing the positions of subsidiary units, strengthening their capital resources and creating strong business relationships between the units, as well as coordinating the business policies and the management of risks and operations and other factors, which create strong and consolidated group.”
Adnan Ahmed Yousif concluded his statement by expressing his thanks and appreciation to the executive managements and all employees of ABG and the five banking units for their continuing efforts in raising the status of their units and the Group as a whole at the local, regional and international levels.
Al Baraka Banking Group (B.S.C) is licensed as an Islamic wholesale bank by the Central Bank of Bahrain, listed on Bahrain Bourse and Nasdaq Dubai stock exchanges.It is a leading international Islamic banking group providing its unique services in countries with a population totaling around one billion and is rated by Standard & Poor’s at BB+ (long term) / B (short term). Al Baraka offers retail, corporate, treasury and investment banking services, strictly in accordance with the principles of the Islamic Shari’a. The authorized capital of Al Baraka is US$ 1.5 billion, while total equity is at about US$ 2 billion.
The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking Units and representative offices in fifteen countries, which in turn provide their services through over 500 branches. Al Baraka currently has a strong presence in Jordan, Tunisia, Sudan, Turkey, Bahrain, Egypt, Algeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, including two representative offices in Indonesia and Libya.