In this regard, BAB Treasury can claim its place amongst the best banks that not only negotiated the unpredictability with exemplary management of

liquidity and investments, but also ensured that the other parts of the bank maintained their double-digit asset growth with little or no constraint.

2022 was a remarkable year where we realised some crucial initiatives, key among them was establishing the structuring and hedging desk to provide cutting edge Islamic derivative solutions catering to the needs of the underserved sophisticated clients seeking Shariah compliant hedging solutions.

Especially gratifying were the investments made by the Investment desk in several structured investments in the form range accrual and collared notes and multi-index ETF linked notes; milestone achievements in pursuit of continued diversification.

Treasury continued to innovate and expand its product range to meet the ever-evolving requirements of its customers. 2022 marked the launch of several new products for the Bank’s professional customers, namely Wakala Collar Deposit, and the Flexi Forward hedging product amongst others.

The successful implementation of the new state-of-the-art Treasury Management System (TMS) was another landmark accomplishment in line with Treasury’s strategy for improved technological solutions which will allow for the development of innovative derivative structures and better risk management whilst positioning Treasury as a flexible and dynamic enabler for improved and robust decision-making across the bank’s business streams.

The story of BAB Treasury has always been characterised by consistent growth in profitability (3-year growth rate = 2020 8.9%, 2021 50.4% and 2022 9.1%). 2022 continued this trend, with the Return on Treasury Assets (ROTA) growing at 15.7%, and assets at 27.8% in 2022, translating into continuous value creation for the bank’s shareholders.

We believe that 2023 will be a defining moment for Treasury as we aim to position ourselves as the preferred choice in the Islamic derivatives space allowing us to target a wider audience (corporates and individuals). We will continue to diversify our investment portfolio by adding newer asset classes and expand our financial institution relationships beyond the GCC.

Lastly, digitalisation is expected to become the over-arching growth enabler in the future, and we have already begun to implement digital solutions for our customers. Likewise, we take great pride that our business objectives also contribute to the goals of Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP), or toward human resource development or indeed toward gender diversification which in turn align with and hope to support the delivery of the Kingdom’s wider Vision 2030.