ABG-Venture Capital top key Islamic banks list
Bahrain's Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) and Venture Capital Bank lead the GCC Islamic Financial Disclosure Index Rankings, it has emerged.
The conveners of the 22nd annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC) yesterday revealed the ranking of the top five GCC Islamic banks rated according to their financial disclosure, subsequent to the announcement of the launch of the WIBC Leaderboard.
As per the rankings, ABG and Venture Capital Bank, both based in Bahrain, are positioned at the top of the Islamic financial institutions in the GCC with a score of 69 and 68 respectively.
Middle East Global Advisors, the organisers of the WIBC for the past 22 years, utilises the Financial Disclosure Index as one of the sub-indicators of the WIBC Leaderboard, an industry benchmark that will form the basis of the WIBC Performance Awards 2015.
The awards will be presented at a gala event during the WIBC being held from December 1 to 3 at the Gulf Hotel.
The financial disclosure rating measures the extent to which customers and stakeholders are protected through disclosure of ownership and financial information.
The index ranges from 0 to 100, with higher values indicating more disclosure.
This is the first in the series of the WIBC Leaderboard performance indicators.
The top five Islamic banks in the GCC according to the Financial Disclosure Index are ABG, Bahrain (69), Venture Capital, Bahrain (68), Ithmaar Bank, Bahrain (66), Bahrain Islamic Bank, Bahrain (66) and Alizz Islamic Bank, Oman (66).
"It is important to understand that increased globalisation has been the basis of a highly interrelated economic and financial system," Al Baraka Bank's president and chief executive Adnan Ahmed Yousif said.
"In such a scenario the risks of the unknown and unexpected are fairly high and the only way to downplay such risks is through appropriate disclosure of important information.
"Islamic banks are doing well to downplay such risks by disclosing financial information consistently," he said.
"In a period of high information asymmetry, where the customers' interests are not wholly-protected from spillovers and systemic risks, the financial disclosure index serves as an essential governance metric that can help regulators ensure that a stable and an efficient banking system is in place," he added.