'An achievement for the banking industry in Kuwait', says Bank CEO Jonathan Lyon

Kuwait, 6 October 2008: Burgan Bank - amongst the leading commercial banks in the state of Kuwait - was recently accorded the 'International Gold Star for Quality' Award by Business Initiative Directions (BID) at the 22nd World Quality Commitment Congress held at Paris in late September. The Award recognizes the Bank's commitment to uphold high quality standards in the realms of Customer Satisfaction, Leadership, Innovation and Technology as established by the QC100 Total Quality Management (TQM) Model.

Receiving the Award on behalf of the Bank from BID Executive President Jose Prieto, Burgan Bank Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Lyon reiterated the Bank's long-standing compliance to best practices. "Upholding international quality standards has been a key focus of our corporate governance policy. We realize that optimum quality is of paramount importance to assure stakeholders of an enhanced banking experience, and we have therefore identified it as one of the pillars of our economic responsibilities under our CSR framework. This Award is not only an honour for the management and employees of Burgan Bank, but a significant achievement for the banking industry in Kuwait."

The Award is one of the many international industry recognitions received by the Bank, which has the distinction of being the only Bank in the GCC to have received an ISO 9001:2000 recertification across all its banking businesses. It is also the only Bank in Kuwait to have won the JP Morgan Chase Quality Assurance Award for ten consecutive years in a row. The Bank's adherence to corporate governance was also lauded when it won the region's first ever Hawkamah UAB Corporate Governance Award 2007 last year.

The 22nd World Quality Commitment Congress acknowledges the commitment to quality demonstrated by awardees hailing from sectors as diverse as industrial production and services. The World Quality Congress Awards are presented by Business Initiation Directives (BID) which is an organization renowned for its expertise in the analysis of corporate image, quality programs and its worldwide endorsement program. BID is perceived by its clients and peers as a knowledgeable, responsive, creative and performance-oriented organization. It is renowned across 178 countries across the globe for having established a firm ground for implementation of an integrated quality process through the technology and procedures of the QC100 TQM.

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About Burgan Bank
Burgan Bank is a subsidiary of KIPCO (Kuwait Projects Company). The youngest and most dynamic commercial bank in the State of Kuwait, established in 1977, the Bank has acquired a leading role in the retail, corporate and investment banking sector through innovative product offers and technologically advanced delivery channels. It has continuously improved its performance over the years by applying an expanded revenue structure, good asset quality, diversified funding sources and a strong capital base. The adoption of state-of-the-art services and ground-breaking technology has positioned it as a trendsetter in the domestic market. At present it enjoys a wide reach through our network of 20 branches and over 100 ATM's making it one of the widest ATM networks in the GCC. 

The brand has been created on a foundation of real values - of trust, commitment, excellence and progression to remind us of the high standards to which we aspire. 'People come first' is the foundation on which its products and services are developed and are further augmented by its three pillars of innovative technology, staff competency and customer service. It is committed to offering an enhanced banking experience.

The Bank was recertified and is still the only bank in the GCC with ISO 9001:2000 certification in all its banking businesses. It also has to its credit the distinction of being the only bank in Kuwait to have won the JP Morgan Chase Quality Recognition Award, 10th year in succession and was also acknowledged as the 'Best Local Private Bank' in Kuwait in the Fourth Annual Euromoney Private Banking Survey 2007. Further, for two consecutive years, it was conferred the COMMERZBANK Recognition Award, for maintaining high standards of quality, efficiency and reliability while processing Euro currency transactions as well. The Bank's commitment to uphold best practices was recognized when it won the region's first Hawkamah-UAB Bank Corporate Governance Award 2007 while its marketing excellence was recognized as amongst the best in the region by the Middle East Business Achievement Awards 2007. Burgan Bank has also been awarded the 2008 World Quality Commitment Award under the criteria of QC100 Total Quality Management model in the Gold category by the International Award Convention and BID Business Initiative Directions.

It's steadily improving financial performance was acknowledged by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services which revised its outlook on the Bank from stable to positive in addition to affirming its 'BBB+' long-term and 'A-2' short-term counterparty credit ratings on the Bank. Further, Moody's Investor Services also upgraded the Bank's FSR rating from D+ to C- recently Capital Intelligence too acknowledged the improved financial profile and upgraded the Bank's Financial Strength Ratings from BBB to A-, the Foreign Currency Short Term rating as A2 and the Foreign Currency Long Term rating from BBB to A-.

For more information, please contact:
Leslie Mouawad
Memac Ogilvy Public Relations
Off: 4610371 Ext: 27
Fax: 4610376
Leslie.mouawad@ogilvy.com

© Press Release 2008