MANAMA: Bahrain based Islamic banking major, Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) and its subsidiary banking units received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution” Award of 2017, for the fifth year in a row.
Al Baraka Banking Group received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in Middle East / North Africa” Award, Al Baraka Islamic Bank Bahrain received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in Bahrain” Award, Jordan Islamic Bank received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in Jordan” Award, Al Baraka Bank Algeria received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in Algeria, and Al Baraka Bank South Africa received the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in South Africa” Award.
“We are very happy with the achievement of ABG and four of our banking units in winning this international award for the fifth successive year, which reflects the leading status that ABG enjoys after successful career filled with achievements over the last years from one side and the excellent banking position that these units occupy in their countries, their effective contributions in providing innovative saving and investment products, in addition to their distinguished performance and services, and good reputation in the Islamic banking sector locally and regionally from the other side,” Adnan Ahmed Yousif President & Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group, said.
“The subsidiary banking units of our Group 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 which are based on consolidating activities and services of these units in unified business strategies in addition to continued strengthening their capital resources and creating strong business relationships between the units, as well as coordinating the compliance, risk management, operations, IT, work culture and environment policies and other factors, which create strong and consolidated group”.
The winning of these awards by ABG and its four subsidiary banking units for the fifth successive year 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 four 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 award will be published in a special issue of the Global Finance in May 2017 and will be formally presented at their annual awards ceremony during the IMF World Bank annual meetings in October 2017 in Washington D. C.
Adnan Ahmed Yousif applauded the executive managements and all employees of ABG and the four 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. It is jointly rated BBB+ (long term) / A3 (short term) on the international scale and A+ (bh) (long term) / A2 (bh) (short term) on the national by Islamic International Rating Agency & Dagong Global Credit Rating Company Limited, and 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 700 branches. Al Baraka currently has a strong presence in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Bahrain, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, including two representative offices in Indonesia and Libya.
