The Peninsula
by Sachin Kumar
Pic: Baher A/The Peninsula
Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani, Chairman and Managing Director, QIIB (sixth left), Abdulbasit Ahmed A Al Shaibei, Chief Executive Officer, QIIB (seventh left) along with board members and senior officials at bank’s AGM in Doha, yesterday. Pic: Baher A/The Peninsula
Qatar’s leading Islamic lender QIIB achieved significant increase and growth in its various banking activities over the past year. The bank’s solid performance was reflected in positive reaction of clients and shareholders as well as their confidence in the bank’s ability, status and strong financial position, said Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani, Chairman and Managing Director, QIIB.
Addressing bank’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) yesterday, the Chairman said QIIB will be able to preserve its leading position by taking required procedures and making necessary plans to implement international financial standards and use the latest banking systems and software.
The bank is expecting approval from authorities in Morocco for its joint venture by the end of third quarter this year. The lender had signed a joint venture agreement with CIH Bank (Credit Immobilier et Hotelier), a Moroccan bank, for the establishment of a bank in Morocco in December last year. Under the agreement, QIIB will have 40% stake in the proposed bank.
“We are waiting for final approval from authorities in Morocco and we are expecting to get approval before the end of third quarter this year. The company is already established,” said Abdulbasit Ahmed A Al Shaibei, Chief Executive Officer, QIIB speaking to media persons on the sidelines of Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at Ezdan Towers.
The AGM approved the Board of Directors’ proposal to distribute 40% cash dividends of the nominal value per share which is equivalent to QR4 per share.
Sheikh Dr Khalid said that the bank took important steps, previous year, towards rationalising the management and expanding its customers’ base by increasing the quality of its services and its local presence along with introducing a number of expansion projects outside Qatar which make us look towards the year 2016 with more positivity in terms of providing more work tools and success opportunities that have always been in the core of our business during the previous years.
Talking about bank’s strategic plan, he said that the Board of Directors continuously updates its strategic plan based on current information to keep up with the latest developments and requirements of control and supervisory authorities. The board reviewed and updated all policies and procedures so as to comply with the governance and sound management policy in accordance with the requirements of Qatar Central Bank and Qatar Financial Markets Authority.
He added that the board also makes continuous efforts to meet all relevant governance and sound management requirements whose final form shall be clarified following the amendment of the articles of association as suggested by the extraordinary general assembly. This is further shown in the governance annual report presented to the shareholders and produced by the Bank’s Governance Unit that operates independently under the direct supervision of the Board of Directors.
