The signing ceremony held at
BMI Bank
‘s headquarters, was attended by the Chief Executive Officers of the two Banks Yousif Taqi and Jamal Al-Hazeem with Sulaiman Al Harthy, Group General Manager and Muhammad Nadeem Aslam, Head of Islamic Banking – representing Meethaq Islamic Banking.

Speaking at the signing, Jamal Al-Hazeem, Chief Executive Officer of
BMI Bank
said:

“Since its inception in 2013, Meethaq has emerged as a leading Islamic Banking service provider in Oman and has enhanced its reputation within the region through its investments in staff, systems and controls along with the timely launch of several world-class Sharia Compliant products and services. Our organizations share mutual principles, values and select expertise and are therefore pleased to sign this MoU today and look forward to enhancing this partnership in the coming years.”

Signing the agreement Sulaiman Al Harthy, Group General Manager of Meethaq Islamic Banking said:

“Meethaq is delighted to sign the MoU with
Al Salam Bank
and
BMI Bank
and we will work together to offer various Islamic finance products covering treasury, trade finance and capital market in Oman. Meethaq is working to strengthen its operations in the Sultanate which is witnessing substantial growth in Islamic banking industry and we consider our partnership with
Al Salam Bank
Bahrain and
BMI Bank
a great advantage to maximize favorable opportunities and thereby expand our coverage.”

Seen in the picture from right to left: Yousif Taqi – Chief Executive Office of
Al Salam Bank
Bahrain, Sulaiman Al Harthy – Group General Manager of Meethaq Islamic Banking, Jamal Al-Hazeem – Chief Executive Officer of
BMI Bank
and (standing at the back) Muhammad Nadeem Aslam, Head of Islamic Banking at Meethaq Islamic Banking.

About
BMI Bank B.S.C
. (c)
Bahraini retail and commercial banking institution,
BMI Bank
is a retail bank, registered in Bahrain and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain. The Bank offers its customers a complete range of innovative and unique financial products and services through its extended network of 10 branches and 28 ATMs as at the end of 2013. The Bank’s multi-award winning eChannels, including its corporate website www.bmibank.com.bh have been honored with various prestigious awards helping in consolidating both its position as well as perception within the country as a young tech savvy retail Bank. Adding further support and credibility towards its image,
BMI Bank
were recently awarded an eContent award at the prestigious 2013 Bahrain eContent Award ceremony for its group website www.bmibank.com.bh as well as for its refreshed state-of-the-art online banking portal under the eBanking category. The Bank reported a net profit of USD 8.8 million (BD 3.3 million) for the fiscal year ended 31st December 2013, an increase of 577% as compared to 2012 which represents its second full-year of profitability as well as its tenth straight net quarter of profit. Total assets at the end of 2013 stood at USD 1.9 billion (BD 0.7 billion) with an excellent Capital Adequacy Ratio of over 16% and very strong liquidity as reported during 31st December 2013.

On the 8th of September 2013, the Board of Directors of
Al Salam Bank
-Bahrain (
ASBB
) and
BMI Bank
announced that they had resolved to merge the two entities. Correspondingly the shareholders of
BMI Bank
approved the business combination with
ASBB
at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on the 7th of November 2013 following a similar approval by the shareholders of
ASBB
during its EGM on the 8th of October 2013.The business combination would be carried out by way of exchanging 11
ASBB
shares for each
BMI Bank
share wherein
ASBB
would acquire 58,533,357
BMI Bank
shares of BD1 each and issue 643,866,927
ASBB
shares of 100 fils each. On the 2nd of February 2014, the Shareholders of both Banks’ confirmed the conclusion of the business combinations after receiving the approval from their shareholders at their respective extraordinary general assembly meetings. As of the 30th of March 2014, both Banks updated their respective CRs to give effect to the share swap and consequently
BMI Bank
‘s new Shareholders on record is now
ASBB
and
ASBB
Business Holding.

BMI Bank
operates an international branch in Qatar, owns and operates the Diners Club cards franchise in Bahrain and has a 21.33% shareholding in Gulf African Bank – Kenya.

BMI Bank
currently offers its local customers a range of retail products and services including regular savings and current accounts, Visa gold and classic credit cards, a Platinum credit card with rewards from Gulf Air’s Falconflyer program, a Diners Club credit card including an Ayadi Plus Diners Club credit card and La Carte, a co-branded Visa credit card in partnership with Geant Hypermarket Bahrain and the recently launched Muharraq Club Titanium Credit Card. The Bank also offers customers the chance to win a total of 396 prizes worth in excess of USD 1,900,000 through its flagship savings scheme “Ayadi” including 6 Diyar Homes Villas as Grand Ayadi prizes as well as an “Ayadi for Students” account exclusively for students with prizes awarded during the year. The Bank also offers customers fixed deposits, a new phone banking and mobile banking service that enables customers to carry out most of their regular banking transactions in a safe and secure environment using their phones.
BMI Bank
recently unveiled “Prestige” its premier service proposition, catering to the affluent individual looking to receive personalized attention and tailored financial solutions from their banking partner.

In line with its ongoing commitment towards building a stronger CSR program and giving back to the community,
BMI Bank
has firm financial commitments towards various local charities including the Al Sanabel Orphans Care Center, Royal Charity Organization, Muharraq Social Welfare Center, American Mission Hospital’s (AMH) Community Outreach Program, the Island Classic Charity Golf Tournament and Think Pink Bahrain as well as with the Bahrain Red Crescent Society, Bahrain Disabled Sports Federation, Al Noor Charity Welfare and the Children Mother’s Welfare Society amongst others.

For further information, please contact: Gordon Andrade; Head, Corporate Communications;
BMI Bank
– Bahrain; E-mail: gordon.andrade@bmibank.com; Cell: +97339782225

© Press Release 2014

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