Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) announced that three of its units won Islamic Finance News Awards 2013 as the Best Islamic Banks in the region through the annual comprehensive referendum conducted by the Foundation of Islamic Finance News.
Al Baraka Islamic Bank won the award as the Best Islamic Bank in Bahrain, Al Baraka Bank Lebanon won the award as the Best Islamic Bank in Lebanon and Al Baraka Bank Sudan won the award as the Best Islamic Bank in Sudan.
The voting in favor of the three units to win this award for the year 2013 was through the annual referendum organized by «Islamic Finance News», where it invited Islamic financial companies and investors and companies from outside the banking sector and government institutions from around the world to participate in this referendum. The Islamic Finance News is based in Kuala Lumpur and it is an international institution specialized in providing news for the Islamic financial sector.
The Islamic Finance News Awards are considered the most transparent and competitive international awards, and are subject to strict standards when voting, where companies and banks are not allowed to vote for themselves, but are subject to the judgment of others. This year, the organizers received 264 nominations, over 100 more than in 2012.
Mohamed Isa Al Mutaweh member of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Al Baraka Islamic Bank – Bahrain received these awards on behalf of winning units of the Group in the annual ceremony, which was held in last week of February 2014 in the city of Dubai.
“We are very happy with the winning of ABG units this international award, which reflects the leading status that ABG enjoys after successful career filled with achievements over the last years from one side and the good reputation they enjoy in the Islamic banking sector locally, regionally and globally from the other side,” Adnan Ahmed Yousif, Board member and 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 and strategy which are based on enhancing the positions of subsidiary units, strengthening their capital resources and creating strong business relationships between the units”.
Yousif concluded his statement by expressing his thanks and appreciation to the executive managements and all employees of ABG units for their continuing efforts in raising the status of their units.
Al Baraka Banking Group is a Bahrain Joint Stock Company licensed as an Islamic wholesale bank by 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 authorised 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 more than 480 branches. Al Baraka currently has a strong presence in Jordan, Tunisia, Sudan, Turkey, Bahrain, Egypt, Algeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Indonesia, Libya, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.