Abdulkareem Abu Alnasr, chief executive officer of the National Commercial Bank (NCB), recently received top recognition in the banking industry after being named Saudi Arabia's “Banker of the Year 2009” by the World Finance Magazine. The announcement was made during a ceremony organized by the World Finance Magazine in London last month. Commenting on NCB's CEO recognition, Alexander Redcliffe, head of the Awards Panel and Editor at the World Finance magazine, said “it is with great pleasure that we at World Finance magazine attribute the award Banker of the Year, 2009, Saudi Arabia to Mr Abdul-Kareem Abu Alnasr. Throughout the year Mr. Abu Alnasr has shown distinct awareness of market curvatures, advanced the financial performance of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia, and helped the bank become a recognizable entity across the world.” Abu Alnasr was selected among the 50 most influential bankers worldwide by a panel of international judges and experts in the financial services field. On receiving the award, Abu Alnasr said the support, determination and conviction of NCB's employees and partners “are always integral factors to realizing the success that NCB enjoys and the position it leads today as the leading financial services group in the middle east region.” He added “this award recognizes several success factors in NCB not only the financial performance and control of risk in a specially challenging economic climate this year. It is a third-party endorsement that our strategy and business approach is prudent and responsible. Particularly, sustainability and corporate governance which have become well entrenched in NCB organization, have introduced a model of best practices in leading change through an integrated and systematic management of economic, social and environmental performance in a way that optimized value for our business, our stakeholders and our society.” Abu Alnasr stressed that NCB would continue to build on its achievements and long track-record of excellence in the financial services sector by continuing to develop and provide innovative financial solutions to meet the growing demand of customers and the challenges of the economic environment, locally and internationally.
