COFICERT: Amen Bank confirms its third MSI 20000 certification cycle

Press Release

Paris, October 17, 2023 - 08:00 AM

Amen Bank confirms its third MSI 20000 certification cycle

AMEN BANK has been awarded the MSI 20000 certification for the third consecutive time following the process of the bank’s continuous evaluation.

The french certification body COFICERT certifies AMEN BANK for the second time, after the Swiss organization SGS, which, as a reminder, issued the first MSI 20000 compliance certificate for AMEN BANK. This new certification cycle reflects the bank’s ability to validate its efforts in terms of financial governance.

AMEN BANK has been integrating MSI 20000 Standard evaluations into a program initiated several years ago. A project rigorously monitored on an annual basis by the management of the bank, including action and remediations plans based on the evaluation reports. The past year marks AMEN BANK’s highest level of compliance with the MSI evaluation criteria, reassuring the management on the bank's strategic choices. Over the years, the institution has leveraged its certification and the annual reports to improve continuously and significantly its fundamentals. It has been an outstanding year in terms of accomplishments for the bank, as attested by the evaluation teams, highlighting the following key elements:

• Positive trend in commercial portfolio quality management: Amen Bank continues to benefit from its efforts in terms of classified loan rates (11.92% in 2022, compared to 13.48% in 2021 and 14.69% in 2020) and of coverage of classified loans (73.65% in 2022, compared to 71.20 in 2021 and 67.07 in 2020).

• Management of liquidity levels: in a structurally challenging environment, the bank manages to maintain its liquidity indicators at satisfactory levels (with an LCR ratio of 131.25%, as of December 31, 2022).

• Recovery of financial margins: The bank’s main challenges, the cost of funding and cost of risk management, represent crucial factors in the bank's profitability scheme. In 2022, Amen Bank posted a gross financial margin ratio of 50.25%, an increase of 2.50 points compared to the average of the last 5 fiscal years.

A highly satisfactory outcome in this time of widespread uncertainty, given the gloomy economic and financial context. The MSI 20000 standard certification, which is particularly demanding in terms of compliance criteria, is a strong indicator to promote among its internal and external counterparties: shareholders, customers, suppliers, landlords, and international correspondents.

The speech by Mr. Neji Ghandri, CEO of AMEN BANK, highlighting the work, theperseverance and the cohesion among his teams, was followed by the official award of the certificate of conformity by Mr. Souheil Skander and Mr. Cristian Mocanu, representatives of respectively CFC Partners and COFICERT France, who participated in the annual regional visit of the certification body in the MENA region, under the supervision of The IGSF - International Group for Sustainable Finance.

As a reminder, MSI 20000 is the international standard dedicated to the quality of the financial situation of companies and institutions. Established by the MSI Observatory, the standard is currently governed internationally by the  IGSF - International Group for Sustainable Finance.

Amen Bank is the first fully private Tunisian bank positioned at the heart of a group that benefits from its strong growth allowing it to ensure its stability and continuity.  It operates throughout the Tunisian territory  andhelds a network of 152 branches spread over 8 regional departments.

COFICERT is a French certification body, specialized in financial and non-financial certifications, operating in nearly 40 countries over 3 continents. COFICERT operates historically with, and alongside, international certification and standardization bodies. The organization brings together experts in governance, financial crime and sustainable finance. COFICERT certifies on the following topics : good financial governance (MSI 20000), social responsibility (ESG 1000), the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML 30000) and the fight against corruption (ISO 37001).

MSI 20000 is the international standard dedicated to good financial governance of companies and institutions. Certification is an indicator relating to the quality of the financial situation of economic and financial entities, to be promoted among its stakeholders. Born in Europe in the aftermath of the subprime crisis, the MSI 20000 certification is issued by international certification bodies. The standard was established by the MSI Observatory and is governed internationally by the IGSF (International Group for Sustainable Finance).