02 March 2016
Manama - The Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C. (ABG) announced that five of its units won Islamic Finance News Awards 2015 as the Best Islamic Banks in the region through the annual comprehensive referendum conducted by the Islamic Finance News  magazine.

For the third consecutive year, Al Baraka Bank Egypt won the award as the Best Islamic Bank in Egypt, Al Baraka Bank Lebanon won the award as the Best Islamic Bank in Lebanon, Al Baraka Bank Sudan won the award as the Best Islamic Bank in Sudan, Jordan Islamic Bank won the award as the Best Islamic Bank in Jordan and Al Baraka Bank South Africa won the award as the Best Islamic Bank in South Africa.

The voting in favor of the five units to win these awards was through the annual referendum organized by "Islamic Finance News", where it invited Islamic financial companies and investors and companies from outside the banking sector and government institutions from around the world to participate in this referendum. The Islamic Finance News magazine is based in Kuala Lumpur and it is an international institution specialized in providing news for the Islamic financial sector.

The Islamic Finance News Awards are considered the most transparent and competitive international awards, and are subject to strict standards when voting, where companies and banks are not allowed to vote for themselves, but are subject to the judgment of others.

Mr. Hassan Hassani - Vice President Corporate Communications and PR - in Al Baraka Banking Group received these awards on behalf of the winning units of the Group in the annual ceremony, which was held in the city of Dubai last Sunday.

On this occasion, Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif, Board member and President & Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group said: "We are pleased today to see  the winning of ABG units of these awards for the third consecutive year, which reflects the leading status that ABG and its banking units enjoy after successful career filled with achievements over the last years from one side and the good reputation as well as the distinguished banking position that these units enjoy in the Islamic banking sector locally, regionally and globally from the other side.

He added "The subsidiary banking units of our Group have come to be amongst the leading financial institutions in servicing their communities and are most established in terms of their expertise and knowledge of the local markets, which reflect the success of Al Baraka Banking Group's vision and strategy which are based on enhancing the positions of subsidiary units, strengthening their capital resources and creating strong business relationships between the units". Mr. Yousif concluded his statement by expressing his thanks and appreciation to the executive managements and all employees of ABG units for their continuing efforts in raising the status of their units.

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 scale with a Stable outlook by Islamic International Rating Agency & Dagong Global Credit Rating Company Limited, and by Standard & Poor's at BB+ (long term) / B (short term) with a Stable outlook. 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$ 2.1 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 600 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 2016