Business & Money | Friday 7 September, 2018 7:59 am |

THE Saudi Investment Bank’s (SAIUB) 2017 Integrated Report has received international acclaim when the winners of the International ARC Awards 2018 were announced recently. In a competition drawn of over 2,000 entries from around 70 countries where 30% of which were qualified to win any sort of award, SAIB 2017 Integrated Report will receive five awards - two gold awards, two bronze awards, and a notable honor award at the award ceremony that is to be held in Hamburg, Germany this year on the 11th of October. The ARC awards, which has been dubbed as the ‘Academy Awards’ of Annual Reports, has been running for over 30 years and will be attended by industry experts and top-ranking executives representing companies around the world.

SAIB’s 2017 Integrated Report, which is also the first integrated report to be published by a Bank in the MENA region, will be awarded two gold awards for ‘cover photo/design’ and for ‘printing and production’. The other two bronze awards will be granted for ‘written text’ and ‘interactive annual report’, while the notable honor award will be presented for the report’s ‘interior design’.

On receiving news of the announcement, SAIB’s Assistant General Manager - Corporate Communication Ms. Ishraq Mohammed Al-Thebiani mentioned that “In terms of corporate reporting practices, SAIB has always been conscious of communicating with clarity. We take pride in winning these awards because it indicates that our reporting practices are on par with international reporting standards.”

The ARC Awards International, organisez by MerComm Inc. of USA, is globally recognised for adhering to the highest standards when determining its winners. The judging process is undertaken by a panel of eminent personalities who understand the entire spectrum of benchmarking required, taking into consideration the optimum usage of creativity while meeting international standards and guidelines in reporting.

SAIB’s 2017 Integrated Report is also the Bank’s first integrated report and the first Integrated Report issued by a bank globally in Arabic. Commenting on the Bank’s decision to adopt integrated reporting, Ms. Al-Thebiani said “Companies around the world are becoming increasingly aware of the role they play in ensuring a sustainable future for all, and integrated reporting helps in this process by providing a holistic view of a company’s performance.” In order to meet the twin goals of comprehensiveness and conciseness in integrated reporting as well as meet the information needs of its diverse stakeholders, SAIB also produced an online HTML report in addition to the print and PDF reports. The print, PDF and online HTML reports were released on the same day in Arabic and English.