Bahrain-based Securities & Investment Company (Sico) said its chairman Sheikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa has resigned from its board of directors after a 12-year long tenure.

Sheikh Mohammed, who had been a director since 1996, and chairman of the board from 1999, will soon take over his new assignment as Batelco Group CEO.

Announcing his decision, Sheikh Mohammed said, 'After 12 years in 'the chair', I believe it is time for a change; which is why I have decided to step down, and make way for someone new to take over the helm, piloting Sico into a new strategic phase.'

Sheikh Mohammed, who had represented Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) on Sico's board, will be soon replaced by another member of the SIO.

The board said it had accepted the resignation of Sheikh Mohammed ‘with very great regret’ paying tribute to his invaluable contribution to Sico's development over the past 15 years, during which time it has emerged as one of the GCC’s premier investment banks.

'As chairman, he has been an instrumental force behind the call for the diversification of the firm’s activities from a domestic-based brokerage house to a regional provider of specialist investment banking solutions,' the board said.

Thanking the board for its support, Sheikh Mohammed said, “It has been an honour and a pleasure to have worked with my fellow directors and management since 1996, through interesting and sometimes, to put it mildly, very challenging times, and to have witnessed the steady evolution of Sico into the successful and respected financial institution that it is today.'

'Only this May our firm was granted a conventional wholesale banking license by the Central Bank of Bahrain, reflecting the bank's substantial evolution in maturity,' he added.
 
Lauding the bank staff for their dedication and professionalism, Sheikh Mohammed said, 'Together, we overcame many challenges during the past 15 years, including regional geo-political events, major stock market corrections, and a global financial crisis that we are still experiencing.'

In his comments, Sico CEO Anthony Mallis said, 'It has been a great privilege to work closely alongside with our chairman for the past 11 years. Through his incisive intelligence, balanced insight and hands-on approach – together with very high standards of integrity and professionalism – he has been remarkable.'

'Together with my fellow partners in management we will miss his guidance, he added.-TradeArabia News Service