The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) yesterday gave 32 awards to banks, insurance companies, non-government organisations and public sector entities for publishing transparent reports and maintaining good corporate governance.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith handed over the 12th ICAB National Awards for Best Presented Annual Reports 2011 among the winners at a ceremony at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.
Among the private banks, Prime Bank Ltd won the first prize, while Eastern Bank and Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd emerged as the second and third winners.
Prime Finance & In-vestment Ltd topped the non-banks. IDLC Finance became second and LankaBangla Finance the third.
Reliance Insurance and Green Delta Insurance came first and second in the insurance category.
Among the manu-facturing entities, GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh was awarded the top prize, while RAK Ceramics Bangladesh and Singer Bangladesh came out second and third.
In the communication and information technology sector, Grameenphone won the top award.
Sajida Foundation grabbed the top position in the NGO category, while BRAC secured the second position and Uddipan the third.
State-run Rupali Bank won the top award among the public sector banks, while Dhaka Electric Supply Company (Desco) was the winner in the services sector.
The Saarc anniversary award for corporate governance went to Islami Bank Bangladesh, Prime Finance & Investment Ltd and IDLC Finance.
The finance minister said the area of accounting and reporting is important as it is involved with money.
He urged the accountants to focus on constant improvement on reporting as it will ensure investor confidence and perk up the overall financial regulation.
Commerce Minister GM Quader said these awards will help ensure greater transparency and better disclosure in line with globally accepted best practices and sound corporate governance principles.
Md Syful Islam, president of the ICAB, and Abbas Uddin Khan, chairman of the Review Committee for Published Accounts & Reports of the ICAB, also spoke.
-With The Daily Star input
