Ashraf Ahmed Mustafa El-Ghamrawy, CEO and managing director of Al Baraka Bank – Egypt, said that the bank’s activity was not impacted by the decision to apprehend the Saudi businessman Saleh Kamel, who is the chairman and founder of the Dallah al Baraka Group (DBHC). The group is the main shareholder of Al Baraka Bank – Egypt.
El-Ghamrawy told Daily News Egypt that the bank is an Egyptian shareholding company. It is regulated by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and is listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX). It also applies the governance standards that separate the ownership and management of the institution.
The anti-corruption committee set up by Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz on Saturday detained a number of Saudi princes, former ministers, and businessmen, including businessman Saleh Kamel, for questioning on corruption charges.
According to El-Ghamrawy, businessman Saleh Kamel does not contribute directly to Al Baraka Bank – Egypt, nor is he a member of the board of directors of the bank. Therefore, what happens with him in Saudi Arabia will have no effect on the bank’s performance in Egypt.
The authorised capital of Al Baraka Bank – Egypt is EGP 2bn, while the issued and paid-up capital amounts to EGP 1.10134bn that is distributed across 157.33 million shares with a nominal value of EGP 7 per share.
The main contributors in the bank’s capital include the Bahraini Al Baraka Banking Group with 73.68% of the capital, Misr Insurance with 4.5%, Misr Life Insurance Company with 5.25%, Dallah for Real Estate Investments with 3.81%, the Qatari Zad Holding Company S.A.Q with 2.56%, AlGabr Co. for Rialstat Investment with 1.09%, Mohsen Badr Ali Khlafallah with 1.15%, Egyptian investors with 6.55%, and other investors with 1.41%.
The EGX has suspended trading on the bank’s shares on Sunday for 15 minutes, after it dropped 6%. Trading was later resumed.
El-Ghamrawy pointed out that the management of the bank notified the EGX that there is no direct link between the Saudi businessman and the bank.
El-Ghamrawi also explained that the bank is not officially aware of what was published in the media regarding the suspension of the Saudi businessman, and that he is not a member of the board of directors. Therefore, there is no impact on the bank, whatever the current events in Saudi Arabia.
