Who will be Islamic Banker of the Year?

This Award is presented to an individual who is an established Islamic banker, and has contributed significantly, during the year 2005, to the Islamic financial services industry by either launching innovative products or services thereby substantially growing his organization and/or enhancing the overall spectrum of products and services offered by the industry; or putting together a substantial wholesale financial transaction that stands out either due to its size, international involvement and/or due to complexity involving financial engineering skills; or developing clearly identifiable best practice Shari'ah compliant products or services thereby earning the Islamic financial services industry a significant recognition from the broader spectrum of mainstream banking.

This award is conferred under the auspices of the World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) annually. WIBC is being held in Bahrain from 10-12 December 2005. Voting forms have been sent out to renowned figures from within the industry and the winner will be declared on 11 Dec 2005 by Ernst & Young, the official award auditors.

"The Islamic Banker of the Year is a peer-based recognition award. To ensure the integrity of the voting process, each WIBC voting form was pre-numbered and addressed to a specific individual in order to restrict voting to a credible pre-selected peer group of leaders and executives across the international Islamic banking and finance industry"

said David Mclean, Executive Director, WIBC.

This award was won by Dr. Fuad Al-Omar, Chairman of Gulf Finance House in 2001, H.E. Khalid Abdulla Al Bassam, Deputy Governor of the BMA in 2002, Esam Janahi, Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Finance House in 2003 and Adnan Ahmed Yousif, CEO of Al Baraka Banking Group in 2004.

"We are yet again, honoured and pleased to take on the role of auditors for the Islamic Banker of the Year Award for this year's session of the World Islamic Banking Conference, a prestigious and key industry event", said Ahmed Adil, Partner, Business Risk Services, Ernst & Young, Bahrain.

Islamic Financial Services Group (IFSG) is positioned as a specialist group within Ernst & Young (Bahrain) that caters to the specific needs of both Islamic and conventional financial institutions requiring Islamic financial advisory services by offering 'turn-key' solutions.

Shamil Bank is the host of the WIBC 2005 Gala Dinner & Awards Ceremony.

The Bank is incorporated in the Kingdom of Bahrain and has grown steadily since 1982 to become a leading Islamic institution with a paid up capital of US$ 230 million and assets under management of some US$ 2.5 billion.

Two more awards, The WIBC Leadership Award 2005 and The Institutional Excellence Award 2005 will also be presented at the World Islamic Banking Conference.