Hawkamah is launching the 9th Bank Corporate Governance Award, and welcomes the submission of Arab banks to the award until the 1st of September, 2015. During the Award process, applicant banks’ corporate governance practices will be assessed by an independent jury comprising international banking experts. Each bank will receive a report from the jury, allowing the banks to benchmark their own practices. The Award is therefore an excellent chance for banks to benchmark themselves against international best practice and get a report with specific improvements needed on their own corporate governance systems. The award honors banks that have made exceptional efforts to improve their corporate governance practices, and whose achievements serve as a model for other banks in the region. H.E Hamad Buamim, Chairman of Hawkamah commented, “Good corporate governance practices form a crucial pillar in ensuring the long-term sustainability of individual banks and of the banking sector itself. This Award recognizes and rewards those banks that strive towards excellence in corporate governance.” Dr. Ashraf Gamal ElDin, CEO of Hawkamah noted, “We believe in the power of recognition and we are pleased to note that this Award has often acted as a catalyst for corporate governance improvements within banks over the years. This year we are providing each applicant bank a report on their corporate governance practices, which benchmarks their practices on the five key areas; commitment to corporate governance, board, control environment, stakeholder protection and disclosure.” The process of choosing the winners starts with review of all the applications by a prominentindependent jury panel of international corporate governance banking experts, conduct one-on-one interviews with the applicant bank top executives,and announce the winners at a special event organized by Hawkamah before the end of 2015. About Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance Hawkamah, The Institute for Corporate Governance is an international association of corporate governance practitioners, regulators, and institutions advancing home grown yet globally integrated corporate governance best practices in the MENA region. Hawkamah's mission is to promote corporate sector reform and good governance, and assist the countries of the region in developing and implementing sustainable corporate governance strategies adapted to national requirements and objectives. By promoting its core values of transparency, accountability,fairness, disclosure, and responsibility, Hawkamah works on policy and practical aspects of corporate governance reform in the region. www.hawkamah.org.