BMB Investment Bank announces Court of Cassation's judgment

Kuwait International Bank had brought a lawsuit against both BMB and the Ministry of Commerce, challenging the validity of the Bank's Extraordinary General Meeting held in May 2005 and in which the Bank's capital was restructured.

Bahrain's Court of First Instance ruled in favor of Kuwait International Bank and that ruling was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeals. Upon filing an objection before the Court of Cassation by the Bank against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, the Court of Cassation annulled that judgment of the Court of Appeal and rejected the Case filed by Kuwait International Bank. This confirms that the procedure followed by BMB for holding the meeting to issue the Resolutions issued in May 2005 were correct and in accordance with the Law and therefore they were all valid.

In commenting on the case, the Bank's Chairman, Wilson Benjamin said: "We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the hearing. We have always maintained that proper and legal procedures were followed prior to and during the meeting and are therefore extremely gratified by this decision. It is high time we put this matter behind us and we hope this has not caused our shareholders too much inconvenience over the past 18 months."

Bahrain Middle East Bank (BSC) was established as an Offshore Banking Unit in 1982. The Bank's shares are listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange under (BMEB.BH) and are held by shareholders across the GCC.