Manama, Bahrain - The Bankers' Society Conference, "The Impact of Basel II on Financial Organizations: Optimizing the Mix", was successfully concluded yesterday (25th September, 2005) under the patronage of H.E. Mr. Rasheed Al-Maraj, Governor of the Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA). Mr. Yousif Hassan, Director of Banking Supervision at the BMA gave the opening remarks for the highly specialised conference.
The Bankers Society brought together a panel of experts each discussing different facets of Basel II at the Conference, which was held at The Gulf International Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Addressing the delegates, Mr. Saleh H.A. Hussain, Head of the Social & Informational Committee, Bankers' Society said, "The Basel II framework offers a new set of standings for establishing minimum capital requirements for banking organizations, based on comprehensive, risk sensitive capital allocation methodology for major risk categories."
"The new framework comprises three pillars that reinforce each other and provide incentives for banks to improve the quality of their control processes. The three pillars are: minimum capital requirements, supervisory review and market discipline."
Mr. Hussain also thanked the Conference sponsors and knowledgeable speakers who led delegates towards a greater understanding of the impact of Basel II on financial organizations.
Specialist speakers included: Mr. Khalid Hamad, Ernst & Young, who spoke on Basel II Impact on Governance Practices, Mr. Nasir Ahmad, KPMG, on Basel II vs. Economic Capital, Patrick Fell, PricewaterhouseCoopers, on Pillar II and You, Mohammed Belgami, Kuwait Finance House, Dean Rowan, Saudi National Commercial Bank, on Understanding Basel II as an Incentive to Advance The Progress Of Sound Risk Management - 'Not Just A Set Of Rules', Sohrab Dadachanji, Standard Chartered Bank, on The Challenge of Cross Border Implementation for Basel II, and Mr. Anand M Sharma, HSBC, on Basel II - Standardised Approach - Practical Considerations, and Mr. Richard Ellis, BMA, on Islamic Banking perspective on Basel II.
The fruit of more than five years' work by a committee of leading global bank supervisors, Basel II relates banks' regulatory capital more closely to the perceived risks that they run. It is an attempt to reduce the number of bank failures by tying a bank's capital-adequacy ratio to the operational risk.
Supporting the Conference were: Ernst & Young (E&Y)- Main Sponsor, Gulf International Bank (GIB)- Gold Sponsor, Saudi National Commercial Bank (SNCB) BDO Jawad Habib- Silver Sponsor, and Bank Muscat International (BMI)- Bronze sponsor.
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About Bankers' Society of Bahrain
The Bankers' Society of Bahrain is a professional association of banks in Bahrain. It promotes Bahrain as an international financial centre, provides a forum for Member Banks to network and discuss matters of interest to the banking community, as well as consulting with authorities on matters of policy and regulation. The Society also provides guidance and assistance to member banks on a day-to-day basis, and supports professional training and development activities for the banking sector. It hosts various functions and professional seminars throughout the year
For further information, please contact:
Zahra'a Taher
Tel: +973 17 226775
Fax +973 17 226698
Press Release 2005
