The Bank Alfalah and Ernst & Young Middle East have signed an advisory contract to enhance the bank's risk management strategy in pursuance of the new capital adequacy accord, Basel-II.
The signing ceremony was held at a local hotel here on Wednesday. Head of Bank Alfalah's Risk Management Division Shad Qureshi and partner of Ernst & Young Middle East Ahmed Adil singed the contract on behalf of their respective organisations. Bank Alfalah's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) M. Saleem Akhtar along with other senior executives of the bank, besides Ahmed Patel, Ebrahim Sidat and Aqueel Merchant, partners of Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder & Co; a member firm of Ernst & Young International in Pakistan were also present on the occasion.
Salim Akhtar, speaking on the occasion, said that in just over eight years his bank, due to its strong management and dynamic growth strategy, had grown from a three branch operation to a network of around 150 branches and was now justifiably considered as one of the premier banks in Pakistan.
He said the bank was sincerely committed to embracing Risk Management and Basel-II implementation not just as a regulatory compliance exercise to satisfy the State Bank of Pakistan, but also as a means for adopting best international practices to enhance stakeholders' value. Ahmed Adil of Ernst & Young Middle East said his organisation believed in integrated practice in the region, having 16 offices and over 2000 people.
Shad Qureshi said the practice had established a specialist Financial Risk Management Group in Bahrain as part of its Business Risk Services practice, headed by Ahmed Adil, an experienced ex-banker.