Bahrain company wins transparency rating boost

Bahrain's Mumtalakat Holding Company has announced that its transparency rating has been upgraded following quarterly research undertaken by the independent Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.

The latest upgrade sees Mumtalakat retain its position as one of the leading investment companies in the GCC region for transparency, after having its score increased to seven from six out of 10.

Of the nine Gulf investment companies covered in the study, the company has the joint highest transparency score on the SWF Institute's Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index, alongside the UAE's Mubadala.

The index is based on 10 essential principles that depict sovereign wealth fund transparency to investors including the provision of percentage ownership of company holdings, financial returns, and geographic locations of holdings as well as the provision of clear strategies and objectives for the future.

The upgrade follows the publication of Mumtalakat's first set of financial results last year which saw it post total revenues of BD1.8bn.

Talal Al Zain, chief executive of Mumtalakat, said: "We remain committed to expanding the company's investments internationally whilst demonstrating our commitment to the highest standards of transparency and accountability.

"We intend to continue to invest in our corporate governance as we believe greater transparency builds investor confidence and helps to create better operational performance across Mumtalakat's portfolio of assets."