OREANDA-NEWS. July 21, 2008. Amrahbank recently completed the sale of its 49% shares to International Investment Bank (‘IIB’), based in Bahrain, reported the press-centre of Amrahbank.

This is a key milestone achieved in Amrahbank’s growth plans as IIB will significantly contribute towards enhancing the Bank’s global reach and cooperation (especially with GCC countries), offer of new sophisticated Retail, Corporate and Investment banking products, customer services, IT, corporate governance, operational tools as well as introduction of fully fledged Islamic Banking as soon as necessary legislative basis is established in Azerbaijan. IIB will play a strategic role in jointly realising an active plan to re-brand Amrahbank, expand its retail network, train the existing staff, and impart new skills to the team.

On 14th June 2008, Shareholders’ General Meeting and Supervisory Board Meeting of Amrahbank took place at Hyatt Regency in Baku, whereby new board members, new short and long term strategy and necessary charter changes have been duly approved. New members of the Supervisory Board comprise Yunis Ildirimzade as a Chairman, Aabed Al Zeera (CEO, IIB) as a Vice Chairman, Mohammed Hadi Mejai (Director, IIB) as a member, Elnur Amikishiyev (Management Information Manager, BP Group) as a member and Kamal Mamedzade (Senior Associate, Salans) as a member.

Amrahbank is experiencing a continuous and impressive growth of its key financial indicators. Accordingly, as at 1 July 2008, total equity of the Bank exceeded AZN 21m, total assets were AZN 63,5m, and net profit for the first half of 2008 was AZN 2,3m. In the near future, Amrahbank will establish cooperation with major banks of Western Europe and Middle East in such areas as project finance, trade finance, credit lines, etc.

International Investment Bank B.S.C. (IIB) was incorporated in Bahrain as an investment bank. The Bank's shareholders are high net worth individuals, business houses and major institutions from the GCC states. The Bank undertakes three core business activities - private equity, real estate and asset management - and aims to offer its clients an internationally diversified range of investments generated through its network of strategic partnerships. IIB has been involved in investments worth more than USD 2,2 billion. One of the core objectives of IIB in its Amrahbank investment is to build a platform for further large scale investments in Azerbaijan and CIS. www.iib-bahrain.com

Amrahbank JSC established in 1993 is one of the leading banks of Azerbaijan and is regarded one of the largest private Azerbaijani banks in terms of network branch, customer base, net profit, ROE and ROA. It is a state appointed agent bank for Azerbaijan Mortgage Fund, Azerbaijan Entrepreneurship Fund and is a member of Azerbaijani Deposit Insurance Fund and Azerbaijan Banks Association. Amrahbank offers its clients variety of retail and corporate banking services such as deposits, credits, money transfers, credit cards (Visa, Mastercard), utility payments, etc. It currently has 28 offices/branches across Azerbaijan.

Amrahbank is proud to celebrate its 15th Anniversary in December 2008.