Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank’s 2010 annual report has won multiple top prizes at one of the major global award schemes for annual reports.

The report, which was developed jointly by the Ithmaar team and Smart Media - The Annual Report Company, was awarded platinum in its category by the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP) at their Vision Awards for 2010.

It also earned the gold award for the most improved annual report worldwide, as well as in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

In addition to the three top prizes, the independent LACP jury, have also placed the 2010 Ithmaar Bank annual report at the 67th position in their list of Top 100 annual reports worldwide and at 34th position in their list of Top 50 annual reports in the EMEA region.

LACP's jury has given top marks for many aspects of the report both from a technical as well as a presentation standpoint.

The awards were presented to the Ithmaar Bank chief executive officer and board member Mohammed Bucheerei, by the Smart Media chairman Dr Vijith Kannangara, in the presence of Ithmaar Bank executive general manager Juma Abull and members of the Ithmaar management team.

"The 2010 annual report documents our transformation from a conventional investment bank into an Islamic retail bank," said Bucheerei.

"We decided to mark this historic transformation with a milestone annual report, one that would be dramatically unconventional.

"We are pleased that the results earned such significant international recognition. This is a great vote of confidence not only for our transparency and clarity of reporting but also for all the major changes that are going on throughout the bank," he said.

Dr Kannangara said that the LACP Vision Awards was a result of close co-operation between Smart Media and Ithmaar Bank.

"Ithmaar Bank's 2010 annual report ranked high on both the top 50 annual reports in the EMEA region, and the top 100 annual reports worldwide," said Dr Kannangara.

"In fact, the report is rubbing shoulders with the annual reports of global giants such as Thomson Reuters at No 36, Kellogg Company at No 42 and WPP at No 84.

"This achievement is made all the more impressive by the fact that, this year, these awards have attracted a record 5,000 entries from around the world," he added. – TradeArabia News Service