26 February 2017

Al Baraka Bank Syria, a subsidiary banking unit of Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C., deserved performance statement certificate in accordance with International Standard for Social Responsibility (ISO26000: 2010) at advanced grade (4 of 5), as a result of the assessment conducted by SGS International.

Thus, Al Baraka Bank Syria is the first bank in Syria deserved this certificate, and that brought as a culmination of the keenness of the Bank to conduct its responsibilities towards society, in various fields, and particularly in education, ,and training, and humanity, through agreements and understandings, contributions, and grants it provides.

On this occasion, the Chairman of Al Baraka Bank Syria and the President & Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif said: The application of social responsibility standard in Al Baraka Bank Syria highlighted the Bank's commitment to assume full responsibility for all of its decisions and activities, and their impact on society and the environment, through a behavior that is characterized by transparency and ethics and contributing to the sustainable development process for all segments of Syrian society.

Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif added: The application of the standard has many other benefits, among them design and build a strategy for social responsibility specially for the Bank, and the preparation of this strategy to work in all the legal, cultural and social environments at the local and global level, and achieving higher credibility for the Bank as a socially responsible institution, in addition to strengthening the competitive advantage of the Bank in banking market, and maintaining outstanding reputation of the Bank globally.

For his part, Mr. Mohammed Abdullah Halabi, Chief Executive Officer of Al Baraka Bank Syria said that: the obtaining of ISO 26000 by the bank is a practical embodiment of the social responsibility of the Bank and its  real role in the economic development in Syria, especially in light of the current circumstances, where increasing the importance of promoting the culture of social responsibility among the business society, because of its leading role in promoting sustainable development process, which, in turn, represents a lofty goal for any society aspires to promote real economic growth opportunities and to improve living standards of citizens, and raising the quality of services provided to them.

He added: Based on this, the companies and business organizations should  be a true partner to the community in order to enhance the chances of achieving and improving sustainable development.

In this context, Dr. Thoraya Babely, director of grants at the SGS Global Company said: The audit and evaluation team at SGS conducted an assessment during the period 18-22 / 12/2016 for the application requirements of the ISO 26000 standard related to social responsibility issues in Al Baraka Bank Syria. The team received great understanding and marked cooperation by the senior management and the team responsible for the project, which facilitated the evaluation process and its completion to the fullest, and made it a rich experience for both parties. As a result of the audit, the team reached to the recommendation to grant the Bank the required performance statement at advanced degree (Advanced) (4 of 5).

It is worth mentioning that the ISO 26000 project has been prepared by the International Working Group of Technical Administrative Office of the ISO Organization, which concerned with social responsibility.

Al Baraka Banking Group (B.S.C) is licensed as an Islamic wholesale bank by the Central Bank of Bahrain, listed on Bahrain Bourse and Nasdaq Dubai stock exchanges. It is a leading international Islamic banking group providing its unique services in countries with a population totaling around one billion. It is jointly rated BBB+ (long term) / A3 (short term) on the international scale and A+ (bh) (long term) / A2 (bh) (short term) on the national by Islamic International Rating Agency & Dagong Global Credit Rating Company Limited, and by Standard & Poor's at BB+ (long term) / B (short term).

Al Baraka offers retail, corporate, treasury and investment banking services, strictly in accordance with the principles of the Islamic Shari'a. The authorized capital of Al Baraka is US$ 1.5 billion, while total equity is at about US$ 2 billion. The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking units and representative offices in fifteen countries, which in turn provide their services through over 700 branches. Al Baraka currently has a strong presence in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Bahrain, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, including two representative offices in Indonesia and Libya.

© Press Release 2017