Charles Russell, the Bahrain and London-based law firm, has confirmed that a report consisting of an inventory of the rights, assets and liabilities of Awal Bank, has been submitted to the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).

This is in accordance with the CBB and Financial Institutions Law 2006 requirement for an administrator to provide a statutory report within thirty days of assuming the administration of a Licensee, and follows the appointment, on August 10 by the Central Bank in its statutory capacity as the banking regulator of the Kingdom of Bahrain of Charles Russell as external administrator of Awal Bank.

The appointment comes following an initial report by Hibis Europe into the financial health of Awal Bank and after having explored all other avenues after Awal Bank defaulted on certain of its obligations in June 2009.

A copy of the report shall be kept at the principal place of business of Awal Bank and shall be available for inspection by creditors, shareholders, employees and directors of Awal Bank, said a statement from Charles Russell.

A spokesperson for Charles Russell commented: “The process of verifying Awal Bank’s rights, assets and liabilities is a matter of urgency for the Administrators and the Central Bank, in order to provide clarity to all the relevant stakeholders. Completion of the statutory report represents an important step towards this, and meets the obligation to submit an initial report within 30 days of the appointment of administrators.”

Charles Russell is leading the administration process from their Bahrain office, with significant support from their other offices both in the UK and Geneva. Charles Russell is being closely assisted by Baker Tilly Restructuring and Recovery.

The CBB in a statement welcomed the publication of the report by Charles Russell as required under Article 141 (a) of the Central Bank of Bahrain and Financial Institutions Law 2006.

"The inventory released today by the Administrator is a list of the bank’s assets and liabilities and provides as much clarity as possible at this time.The CBB and the Administrator will now move ahead with the next stage of the Administration process and the Administrator will continue the process of asset realization.,” the CBB added.-TradeArabia News Service