Top performing Islamic Financial Institutions from the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa are vying for the WIBC Leaderboard Awards in Global Islamic Banking to be announced during the World Islamic Banking Conference in Bahrain next month.

WIBC Awards recognise the best performing financial institutions at the global and regional levels.

Held under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of Bahrain and in strategic partnership of the Central Bank of Bahrain, the 26th World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC 2019) will take place from December 2 to 4 at The Gulf Hotel Bahrain.

Over 1,200 participants, 50+ country representations, 98+ partners, and 60+ high-profile speakers will provide breakthrough insights that will help Islamic Finance realise its global value proposition.

A testament to its vision of advancing the global Islamic banking industry, the WIBC 2019 will continue in its endeavour of enhancing the performance and quality of key Islamic financial institutions by means of the 5th WIBC Leaderboard, a statement said.

Group CEOs of leading banks will gather at the CEO Power Table. They include: Renowned Islamic banking and finance expert Stefano Bertamini, Chief Executive Officer, Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia; Mazin Manna, Chief Executive Officer, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, UAE; Dr Adnan Chilwan, Group Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Islamic Bank, UAE; and Mazin Al-Nahedh, Group Chief Executive Officer, Kuwait Finance House, Kuwait. They will address challenges and opportunities in a dynamic market by analysing risks, driving profitability, managing capital adequacy & legal lending challenges, growing wave of M&As in the banking & financial sector, market disruptive forces, digital transformation and customer optimization.

Other key sessions include Regulators’ Power Table to address harmonization of global Islamic finance standards and regulators’ responsibility, an exclusive presentation Global Economic Outlook: Assessment & Forecast by IMF, Digital Transformation, New Trends in Fintech Influencing the Future of Islamic Finance, Project Financing via Sukuk among others.

Confirmed Speakers at the WIBC so far include: Godwin Emefiele - Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria; Dr Sami Al-Suwailem- Acting Director General, Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), Jihad Azour - Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund; Khalid Hamad Abdul-Rahman Hamad - Executive Director of Banking Supervision, Central Bank of Bahrain; Omar Mustafa Ansari - Secretary General, Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), Abdulhakeem Y Alkhayyat - Managing Director and CEO of KFH Bahrain; Ali Adnan Ibrahim - Global Head of Sustainability and Social Responsibility at Al Baraka Banking Group; Bashar Al Natoor - Global Head Islamic Finance, Fitch Ratings; Najeeb Haider, Principal Strategy Officer - Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); Hassan Jarrar - CEO of Bahrain Islamic Bank; Nitish Bhojnagarwala - Vice President - Senior Credit Officer, Financial Institutions Group, Moody’s Investors Services Middle East Limited; Mustafa Adil - Head of Islamic Finance at Refinitiv; Khalid Saad - CEO of Bahrain FinTech Bay; Noor Azmi Mat Said - CEO of SME Corporation Malaysia; Khalid Al Kayed - CEO of Bank Nizwa; Naser Almohri - Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager at ABC Islamic Bank; Qamar Saleem - Global Technical Lead, ME Banking Practice Group, International Finance Corporation; Richad Soundardjee - CEO of Societe Generale Middle East; Sheikh Esam Mohamed Ishaq - Shari’a Supervisory Board Executive Member at the Islamic Finance House; Sohaib Umar – Advisor, Islamic Finance Development at the Central Bank of Bahrain; Suhail Bin Tarraf - COO of Emirates Islamic Bank; and Simon Galpin - Senior Advisor, Bahrain Economic Development Board.

Introduced in 2015 and forming the basis of the annual WIBC Performance Awards is the WIBC Leaderboard: a first-of-its-kind comprehensive assessment tool aimed at helping the Islamic finance industry to critically appraise the challenges and growth opportunities that lie ahead.

The WIBC Leaderboard ranks Islamic banks in comparison to their key competitors at the global and regional levels, based on various robust financial and governance metrics. These metrics comprise: Financial Stability (Total Capital and Tier 1 Capital Ratios, Loan-Loss Reserves (LLR) to Gross Loans Ratio, Loan-Loss Reserves (LLR) to Non-Performing Loans (NPL) Ratio, Non-Performing Loans (NPL) to Gross Loans); Financial Performance (Return on Average Assets (ROAA), Return on Average Equity (ROAE), Cost-to-Income Ratio (CIR), Assets Growth) and Governance and Social Responsibility (Financial Disclosure Index, CSR Disclosure).

In addition to the individual metrics, banks will be ranked on the basis of an aggregate score, which forms the apex of the WIBC Leaderboard. This aggregate index holistically ranks entities on the basis of the aforementioned financial and governance measures. The data employed in creating the assessment framework has been sourced primarily from Orbis Bank Focus.

Top performing Islamic financial institutions will be vying for 13 categories of the awards this year:

1. Best Performing Bank – Globally; 2. Best Performing Bank – MENA; 3. Best Performing Bank – Asia;

4. Best Performing Bank – Levant; 5. Winner of CSR Award; 6. Top Islamic Bank (Financial Performance); 7. Best Islamic Bank (Financial Stability); 8. Biggest Islamic Bank by Assets; 9. Best Islamic Digital Bank; 10. Fastest Growing Islamic Fintech bank; 11. Top Law Firm (M&A for Islamic Financial Institutions); 12. Top Advisory Company for M&A (M&A for Islamic Financial Institutions);

13. Top Consultancy Firm for M&A (M&A for Islamic Financial Institutions).

WIBC 2019 is partnered with some of the biggest and oldest Islamic Financial Institutions globally including Ithmaar Bank, Khaleeji Commercial Bank (KHCB), Bank ABC Islamic, Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB), First Energy Bank, Al Baraka Banking Group, The Perth Mint, Moody's Investors Service, Eiger Trading, DDCAP Group, Keypoint, FitchRatings, Tejoury, GPS & Sadad.

The theme for the 26th WIBC “Mega Trends in Banking and Finance” is in line with the conference’s steady vision to serve as a compass for the global Islamic finance and banking industry, with the three-day forum expected to draw participation from over 1,300 global industry leaders, policy makers, innovators and stakeholders, all focused on generating breakthrough insights that help navigate through the complexities of the global financial system.

More information on the WIBC Performance Awards is available at: https://wibc2019.com/awards and to find out more about the WIBC, visit: www.wibc2019.com