Hawkamah Institute and Union of Arab Banks confirm expert jury for Corporate Governance Award

Jury panel members will include Charles Freeland, a well-respected international banking consultant, former Deputy Secretary General, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel. Chairing several Committee task forces, Freeland also acted as the BIS representative on the OECD's Steering Group on Corporate Governance and was a drafting member of the Basel Committee working group that developed its February 2006 Corporate Governance for Banks.

Michael Stevenson, Middle East Senior Partner (PWC) and Ambassador John Bohn, who is currently Commissioner at California Public Utilities Commission and Chair of Globalnet Venture Partners have also been named as jury members. Bohn was also recently elected as a Director of the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C. and to the Advisory Board of the Yale Institute for Corporate Governance and Performance. He is also a member of The Council on Foreign Relations in New York, and a director of the World Affairs Council in San Francisco.

Hawkamah and UAB have revealed there has been a high level of interest in the newly created Hawkamah - UAB Bank Corporate Governance Award with banks from Middle Eastern countries including Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, KSA, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Sudan, UAE and Yemen submitting award applications. The Award, which is being presented in association with MasterCard Worldwide is the first of its kind in the Arab world. It has evoked great interest among banks in the region who acknowledge the importance of corporate governance in the financial sector.

The high level of interest demonstrates the importance banks are placing on corporate governance principles within their own organizations. The members of the international expert jury panel who have had many years experience in developing guidelines on corporate governance, face a challenging task in deciding the Award winning bank from among the nearly 40 submissions.

Dr. Nasser Saidi, Executive Director, Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance commented, 'As we are nearing the announcement of the Hawkamah - UAB Bank Award for Corporate Governance, the Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance would like to acknowledge the great interest received from banks in the region.

Corporate governance holds the key to the region's economic growth prospects and sustainability. The Hawkamah Institute develops regionally relevant corporate governance frameworks and offers high value benefits to its member organizations. We are pleased to foster better corporate governance with our partner the Union of Arab Banks and are thankful for the support of MasterCard.'

Dr. Fouad Shaker, Secretary General, Union of Arab Banks, commented, 'As we are approaching the milestone occasion of announcing the first corporate governance award in the Arab world, which UAB promotes and advocates, the UAB would like to extend our appreciation to the members of the expert jury panel. We are delighted that the special task of determining the five finalists, and ultimately the winning bank, is being handled by a jury of outstanding caliber. We believe the Hawkamah - UAB Bank Corporate Governance Award will reinforce the importance of corporate governance initiatives in the banking industry and send our best wishes to the final five banks who will be in contention for the Award.'

Denzil Lawson, General Manager, Middle East & Levant, MasterCard Worldwide commented, 'MasterCard is keenly anticipating the announcement of the Hawkamah - UAB Bank Corporate Governance Award and would like to acknowledge the hard work of the jury thus far. The interest this Award has generated demonstrates that banks clearly recognize the importance of embedding corporate governance within their practices. MasterCard, as a founding sponsor of the Hawkamah Institute, is pleased to support this Award that seeks to build transparent markets.'