Dubai-based Hawkamah, Institute for Corporate Governance, a regionally recognized driver of corporate governance reform, named a new board of directors with Hamad Buamim, the director general of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as its new chairman.

Maryam Buti Al Suwaidi, the deputy CEO for Licensing, Supervision & Enforcement of Securities and Commodities Authority has been named the new vice chairman.

The other members are Sheikh Hussein A. Al-Banawi, the chairman and CEO of The Industrial Group, Jeddah; Peter Montagnon, the senior investment advisor, Financial Reporting Council, UK and Dr Sameer Alansari, the CEO of PEPlus Advisors.

Hawkamah, Institute for Corporate Governance was formed in 2006 as a regional initiative founded by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and supported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Bank’s International Financial Corporation (IFC), Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), Union of Arab Banks (UAB), and others to bridge the Middle East and North Africa regional corporate governance gap.

Over the past six years, Hawkamah has succeeded in working with regional regulators and companies to identify and address the region’s corporate governance challenges through its various policy task forces, research and publications, advocacy activities and awards programmes, company and board-level engagements, and its Mudara Institute of Directors.  

Abdulaziz Al Ghurair, DIFC Authority Board chairman said, “As Hawkamah grows in scope, the board will play a key role in ensuring the institute’s thought leadership, regulator and company engagements, development programmes, and other initiatives will flourish."

"Clearly there is a regional need for institutions such as Hawkamah, and this board’s active engagement will be crucial to the development of Hawkamah and its regional corporate governance work," he stated.

On his new role, Hamad Buamim said, "We are looking forward to taking what Hawkamah has accomplished in these few years to new heights, continuing the corporate governance dialogue that Hawkamah and Mudara have initiated but also providing practical and well-honed solutions to challenges faced by many of the region’s public and private sectors.”-TradeArabia News Service