CAIRO: Seeking to drive efficiency across the region's banking sector, the Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance and the Union of Arab Banks (UAB) - in association with MasterCard Worldwide - recently announced the establishment of the "Hawkamah-UAB Bank Corporate Governance Award, the first of its kind in the Arab world. "The development and implementation of good corporate governance policies and practices is crucial for banks in the Arab world and a core building block of sound financial markets, said Nasser Saidi, executive director of the Hawkamah Institute. "This award is another milestone to demonstrate the importance of corporate governance and to further enhance the implementation of such policies within the banking sector across the region, he told The Daily Star Egypt. The awards are open to all Arab banks, and the winner will receive a cash prize at the UAB Annual Arab Banking Conference, which will be held next October. The award's criteria cover a number of different areas including commitment to good corporate governance, transparency and disclosure, as well as fair treatment of minority shareholders. The selection committee comprises of an international panel of experts including Charles Freeland, an international banking consultant and former deputy secretary general of Basel Committee on Banking, and Ambassador John Bohn, commissioner at California Public Utilities and chairman of Globalnet Venture Partners. Celebrating banks that improve their corporate governance practices, the two founding partners - Hawkamah and UAB - believe that the award will further build open and transparent financial markets in the region and drive efficiency in banks' payment systems. "The UAB [seeks] to play a vital and leading role in developing the Arab banking industry in line with international requirements while meeting local needs of the region, explained Fouad Shaker, secretary general of the UAB. "Along with our role comes the responsibility of raising awareness of corporate governance and encouraging banks to further implement corporate governance policies. Bringing together around 320 Arab financial and banking institutions, the UAB has become the foremost banking and financial consortium in the region. It is committed to ensuring Arab banks comply with international financial standards and strengthen their international cooperation with the global marketplace.
