Recognising the best of the best under the theme ‘Rewarding Excellence’, Amana Bank Awards 2022 was recently held at Shangri-La Colombo under the patronage of the Bank’s Chairman Asgi Akbarally.

The ceremonial event commenced with the recognition and felicitation of the Bank’s Founder Chairman Osman Kassim and Founder Directors Tyeab Akbarally, Harsha Amarasekera PC and Mohamed Jazri Magdon Ismail, who retired from the Bank upon completion of the maximum 9 year statutory period of holding a directorship in a Licensed Commercial Bank as per CBSL directions.

The event also had the participation of the Bank’s Senior Director Rajiv Nandlal Dvivedi and Directors representing the IsDB Group, the principal shareholders of the Bank, Mohammed Ataur Rahman Chowdury and Syed Muhammed Asim Raza, who flew from overseas to be physically present at the occasion. Others in the audience included Directors Aaron Russell-Davision, Omar Kassim, Tishan Subasinghe, Mohamed Adamaly; the Bank’s CEO Mohamed Azmeer, Management Committee, Branch Managers, Award Nominees while Bank staff were invited to witness the event via a virtual platform.

The highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of the CEO Award, given to the most outstanding employees of the Bank for their unwavering display of dedication, passion and going beyond the call of duty. Six CEO Award recipients were selected based on a stringent evaluation criteria. The recipients of the prestigious CEO Award at Amãna Bank Awards 2022 were Mohamed Asmil (Manager – Acquisition Channels), Sameera Senanayake (Manager – Operations), Azim Rali (Head of Marketing & Corporate Communications), Nizath Mustafa (Manager – Software Development and MIS), Udara Kodipilli (Head – Emerging Corporates Western Region) and Azam Ameer (Head of Business – Kandy Branch). Other employees who were nominated for the CEO Award were Aadil Haniffa, Arkam Azeez, Aslam Shahabdeen, Dilan Joseph, Fawaz Ansar, Harindra Marasinghe, Imran Razick, Mushtaq Jiffrey, Nadeeka Weerasekara, Razi Giado, Rizniya Faiz, Sanjeewa Fonseka and Shakir Nawaz.

In the category of Branch Awards, the Bank’s Nintavur Branch walked away with the Gold Award for Best Overall Branch which was presented to Branch Manager Mohamed Nafeel while Kandy Branch was bestowed the Silver for Best Overall Branch, collected by Head of Business – Kandy Branch Azam Ameer. The Gold Award for Best Branch Central Region was won by Kuliyapitiya Branch and was accepted by Branch Manager Shiran Ibrahim, while the Silver Award was presented to Kurunegala Branch, which was collected by Branch Manager Hussain Samsudeen. The Bank’s Sammanthurai Branch was recognised with the Gold Award for Best Branch Eastern Region which was accepted by Branch Manager Siraz Mohamed while Kinniya Branch walked away with the Silver Award, received by Branch Manager Imran Bathurdeen. The Main Branch Colombo 3 was awarded the Gold for Best Branch Western Region, while Silver was conferred to Dehiwala Branch. Mohamed Rimzan representing the Main Branch and Irshardh Nazeel representing the Dehiwala branch collected the respective accolades for Best Branch Western Region.

Further in recognition of the Bank’s relationship managers engaged in corporate business, awards were also presented to the Best Corporate CRMs. The Gold Award for Best Corporate CRM was won by Harindra Marasinghe while Silver Award was won jointly by Jisthi Mohamed and Ahamed Musthaq.

Commenting on the event Amana Bank’s Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Azmeer said “Amãna Bank Awards stands evidence to our customer centric and performance driven culture where we recognize the best of the best. In the recent past we witnessed the Bank reach many milestones, and behind these milestone we have had star performers whose passion, attitude and commitment to excellence were distinguishable. Amana Bank Awards is all about recognizing these stars and honouring them for the value they have created for the Bank.”

Sharing his views, the Bank’s Chairman Asgi Akbarally said “I am honoured to have been a part of Amãna Bank Awards 2022, in celebration of the achievement of our people, whose relentless dedication and engagement has helped us reach many milestones. While congratulating all the award winners, my sincere and humble appreciation goes out to the entire Amãna Bank family.”

Amana Bank PLC is a stand-alone institution licensed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange with Jeddah-based IsDB Group being the principal shareholder having a 29.97% shareholding of the Bank. The IsDB Group is a ‘AAA’ rated multilateral development financial institution with a membership of 57 countries. In September 2021 Fitch Ratings Sri Lanka affirmed the National Long Term Rating of Amãna Bank to BB+(lka) with a Stable Outlook. Testifying its position as a leading practitioner of the non-interest based banking model, Amana Bank is recognised amongst the Top 50 Strongest Islamic Bank’s in the World by The Asian Banker. Amãna Bank does not have any subsidiaries, associates, or affiliated institutions.

Image 1: CEO Award winners Sameera Senanayake Nizath Mustafa Mohamed Asmil Azam Ameer Azim Rali and Udara Kodipilli with Chairman Asgi Akbarally and CEO Mohamed Azmeer

Image 2: 2022 CEO Award Winners with previous recipients of CEO Award and Board of Directors

Image 3: Branch Award winners with Board of Directors

Image 4: Corporate CRM Award winners with Board of Directors

Image 5: Token of Appreciation handed to Founder Chairman Osman Kassim by Incumbent Chairman Asgi Akbarally and CEO Mohamed Azmeer