Sharjah Islamic Bank takes home coveted excellence award

The awards aim to reward entities for their efforts towards the developments of the Mediterranean region in multiple fields.

On the occasion, CEO at SIB, Mohammed Abdullah, commented, "The SIB has always been involved with the banking industry and its clientele at a deeper level. In the long-run, our focus has been to strengthen, stabilise and transform UAE's economy and SIB has taken particular care to implement initiatives that ensure that we adhere to the best practices in the industry. Being nominated for such a prestigious award, and winning it, is a true honour for the entire SIB team and we stand proud."

"Sharjah Islamic Bank is constantly expanding its exposure to Mediterranean countries like Turkey through financial tools like syndication, sukuks and direct investments with an aim of introducing other institutions to the advantages of Islamic banking," he added further.

The bank has and continues to support many syndicated transactions in Turkey by a way of participation. These deals include clients such as Financial Institutions as well as large and well known corporates of Turkey.

Recently, SIB was a Co-lead Manager in the inaugural $1.5bn sukuk issuance of the Turkish government with an aim to further expand into the Euro-Asian market

The MIM Mediterranean Awards for Excellence aim to reward entities for their efforts towards the development of the region in the following fields; Best Contribution to the Mediterranean by Conventional Institution, Best Contribution to the Mediterranean by Educational Institution, Best Contribution to the Mediterranean by Voluntary Organisation, Best Innovative Contribution to the Mediterranean, Best contribution to Mediterranean by Islamic Bank, Best Commitment to Principle Innovation and Quality in Islamic Finance, Best Shariah Compliant Private and Venture capital, and Best Shariah Advisory Firm.

Commenting on the choice of SIB as an award winner, the jury stated, "The SIB, which was originally founded as the National Bank of Sharjah, became the first financial institute in the world to convert to Islamic way of banking in 2002, therefore playing a pioneering role, and providing a role model for others to follow."