Hawkamah Institute and Union of Arab Banks announce short list of banks for region's first Corporate Governance Award

The Award will be handed over to the winning bank during a ceremony on 7th November 2007 in Doha, Qatar.

The top five short listed banks are: Bank of Kuwait and the Middle East, Burgan Bank, Dhofar Bank, Doha Bank and Oman International Bank.

The top five banks were selected after a rigorous assessment of all the submitted material by the international jury of experts. Jury members included Charles Freeland, a well-respected international banking consultant, former Deputy Secretary General, Basel Committee on Banking; 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.

The top five short-listed banks demonstrated proficiency in a number of key areas, including:
•Commitment to good corporate governance
•Structure and functioning of the Board of Directors (or equivalent Supervisory Board)
•Controlled environment and processes
•Transparency and disclosure
•Treatment of minority shareholders

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 is the first of its kind in the Arab world and has evoked great interest among banks in the region who acknowledge the importance of corporate governance in the financial sector.

Dr. Nasser Saidi, Executive Director, Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance commented, "Corporate governance is a vital part of the laws, regulations, institutions and enforcement mechanisms that make up a market economy's institutional infrastructure and integrity. It is crucial for banks in the Arab world to develop and implement good corporate governance policies and practices and the short listed five banks demonstrated proficiency in various key areas of corporate governance."

Dr. Fouad Shaker, Secretary General, Union of Arab Banks, commented, "As we are approaching the milestone occasion of announcing the first Hawkamah - UAB Bank Corporate Governance Award in the Arab world, UAB is delighted that the top five banks to be considered for this Award have been selected. These banks have demonstrated the importance of corporate initiatives in the banking industry. We would like to send our best wishes to the final five banks which will be in contention for the Award."

Mark Beer, Vice President, Government Affairs and Corporate Services, MasterCard Worldwide, South Asia, Middle East and Africa (SAMEA) commented, "MasterCard is pleased to see the strong interest and participation of banks across the region. As a founding sponsor of the Hawkamah Institute, MasterCard supports this Award that seeks to build open and transparent markets and drives efficiencies across their economies and within the payment system."