Support Functions

Client Relations

SICO’s Client Relations Department serves as the direct liaison between the Bank and its clients. A dedicated team of knowledgeable and financially literate professionals works to process requests, answer inquiries, and provide guidance to both existing and prospective clients. Client Relations aims to create value for all SICO clients by recognizing and responding to individual needs. Queries and complaints concerning all non-trading issues are attended to promptly and efficiently by highly-trained customer service personnel. Client Relations also engages with the various business lines within the Bank to pass on relevant feedback that they receive directly from their daily interactions with SICO’s clients. Their scope of activities includes opening new accounts for Brokerage, Fixed Income, and Asset Management. They are also responsible for completing and updating all client forms to ensure full compliance with CBB regulations. In 2019, the team continued to deliver on its mandate to deliver a high degree of customer satisfaction in the most efficient manner possible.

Human Resources

SICO’s most valuable asset is its people. One of the Bank’s biggest competitive advantages over the past 20 years has been its hardworking and loyal team of talented investment professionals who are viewed as partners and active participants in the Bank’s evolving growth story. At SICO, we strive to create a corporate culture that values diversity, teamwork, and open communication. We believe that fostering a welcoming professional environment, promoting healthy competition, and rewarding exceptional achievement are key to maintaining employee satisfaction and retention.

The Bank is also committed to cultivating the talent of our employees through mentorships at all levels within the organization, and in succession planning and promoting from within, as this helps us strengthen institutional memory and ensure stability of operations. SICO continues to provide career development opportunities by offering funding for employees to further their education and professional qualifications such as CFA. SICO currently employs 12 CFA holders.

In an effort to facilitate recruitment and broaden outreach, HR also launched a new job application functionality on the SICO corporate website. Job applicants and summer internship applicants can now apply for jobs at SICO Online. Additionally, the Bank participated in the 2nd annual CFA Career Day, an event hosted by Bahrain’s CFA Society in partnership with the Supreme Council of Women and INJAZ Bahrain.

SICO remains committed to identifying and training new talent through internships and executive training programs. SICO’s six-month executive training program targets fresh graduates interested in pursuing careers in the banking and finance industry. As part of our ongoing push towards gender diversity, a special emphasis has also been placed on attracting female interns particularly in male dominated fields such as IT. In 2019, seven candidates participated in executive training and seven students held summer internships, including one female.

We are proud to report that 72% of our employees are Bahraini nationals. The bank and its subsidiaries are equally proud of the diversity of the overall team, which is comprised of different nationalities including Bahrainis, 35% of whom are women.

SICO strives to be considered an employer of choice in Bahrain and as such, HR is currently in the process of updating all policies and procedures in line with market best practices. The division has already expanded a number of employee benefits that in many instances surpass what is required by Bahraini labor law.

Headcount and Bahrainization Percentage – Bahrain

*Including six Executive Trainees
**Including one Executive Trainee

Breakdown by Gender

Legal

SICO’s in-house legal department, established in 2018, is headed by a specialized and experienced legal of counsel with years of expertise in advising financial institutions in Europe and in Asia.

The department continued to support SICO and its subsidiaries across their operations by:

• Identifying strategic business opportunities arising from changes to the domestic and international legal framework.
• Assisting business units in the structuring, development, and delivery of products and services incorporating sound and innovative legal solutions.
• Administering the legal affairs of SICO through the internal provision of professional, timely, and useful legal advice and services, and by arranging and actively managing the services of outside counsel as needed.
• Minimizing liability exposure of SICO by recommending and implementing appropriate policies, practices, and procedures.
• Administering the legal affairs of SICO in the most cost-efficient manner so as to contribute to the SICO-wide team effort to maximize returns to shareholders.

Information Technology

2019 Operational Review

Throughout the year, SICO’s IT department achieved a number of important milestones aimed at streamlining the bank’s operations. These initiatives have largely centered on automation and digitalization of services to provide clients with a more seamless suite of services and overhaul the bank’s internal systems.

One of the key achievements of the year was the completion of the T24 Core Banking platform upgrade, a sixth-month process that was completed in April 2019. The new enhancements will allow for the integration of further systems and functionalities serving all of SICO’s business units. The upgraded platform paved the way for the adoption of further automated systems targeting specific business units such as asset management and brokerage. The division was also able to successfully integrate a payment gateway from its core banking system to automate all SWIFT payments.

Additional features of the core banking sector upgrade included enhancements in client communications such as the streamlining of notifications and the unification of electronic statements. Through this new system, clients with multiple portfolios or accounts receive one comprehensive email notification with updated cash and position statements on all their accounts. The IT division was also able to implement the RPA system, a smart tool that allows for automated reconciliation between cash and position accounts.

Another key milestone for the division was the transformation of the SICO LIVE interface, the bank’s online trading platform, integrating more features, to provide users with a more seamless experience.

To facilitate the delivery of SICO’s mandate as the execution advisor, receiving agent, and allotment agent in National Bank of Bahrain Acquisition of Bahrain Islamic Bank, the IT division launched a new automated IPO Cloud based system that allows SICO to receive applications electronically. In addition, the new system can provide full statistics and reports for management, regulators, and investors.

The division also adopted a number of internal automated systems to complement the bank’s operations including a new comprehensive HR system that allows for automated time and attendance tracking, with notifications and reports generated for all concerned staff and line managers. In addition, a new performance management system was launched, creating an automated system for appraisals and evaluations as well as development modules for all staff.

The division also embarked on a comprehensive assessment of all internal policies, procedures, and systems in order to ensure compliance with global data protection regulations. Based on this assessment, the division provided a number of recommendations to ensure that all bank operations are in compliance with the law.

SICO’s IT division also worked on enhancing its cyber security framework to ensure that it is up to par with international best practices. A new cyber security incident management policy was also developed by the division, currently in the implementation phase, to create a standardized response from the bank regarding all security incidents.

2020 Outlook

In the coming year, SICO’s IT division is working to integrate further systems to complement its many achievements in 2019. Further to its endeavors to streamline internal business processes, the division will seek to expand on its new performance management system. The system will be further developed to include automated KPIs including company strategy, company milestones, departmental goals, as well as staff review and appraisals. Additionally, a new archiving system featuring automated viewing controls will be adopted allowing for improved storage and record management within the bank.

On the business side, the division will work to add more international markets to its SICO LIVE platform, granting clients access to a more diverse range of markets and trading options.

Additionally, SICO IT will seek to leverage the Bahraini government’s eKYC system in order to create a simplified automated customer onboarding system.

Through this system, customers who are part of the eKYC database will only be required to submit their ID number, which can then be used by SICO to retrieve all relevant information when opening an account.

The division will also seek to implement an automated customer relationship management system, in order to provide a streamlined digital method of improving communications between the bank and its clients as it seeks to consistently deliver innovative quality services.

Operations

The main responsibility of the Operations department is the processing and settlement of all transactions for all SICO’s business lines starting from account opening and booking cash for clients to managing daily transaction reconciliations and the settlement cycle and issuing reports to Client Relations and the Business divisions. SICO’s robust core banking system has enabled all processes and procedures to be fully automated and integrated with SWIFT, which has improved efficiency and accuracy. All of the department’s team members are highly trained professionals who attend regular training sessions to enhance their knowledge and awareness of financial instruments and regulatory requirements in compliance with CBB requirements and customer needs.

Corporate Communications

In 2019, SICO’s Corporate Communications department embarked on a number of initiatives with the aim of creating more brand equity and public awareness regarding the breadth and depth SICO’s operations across business lines and geographies. During the year, the department spearheaded two key surveys to gauge client perceptions on SICO’s Brokerage and Research service offerings. The survey results, which were largely positive, will be used to further enhance the products and services of the two divisions helping them to directly address the current and future needs of their clients.

Another important achievement for the department during the year was to successfully engage with the public through social media. The Bank’s presence on Instagram, which began in late 2018, expanded during 2019 with regular posts and updates on SICO’s financial and operational milestones as well as weekly GCC Market Performance Updates from SICO’s Research Division.

The department continued to provide support for and create awareness of SICO’s major transactions such as the NBB acquisition of Bahrain Islamic Bank. Corporate Communications was also in charge of managing SICO’s successful awards program, which saw the bank apply for and win a total of nine awards in 2019.

Corporate Communications carried on with its push on CSR and Go-Green initiatives to promote sustainable practices for all stakeholders. They also identified and secured impactful sponsorships for a number of conferences and industry events where SICO executives engaged with their peers as thought leaders and supporters of the Bahraini financial sector. The department’s over-arching PR-focused strategy remains committed to transparency, accessibility, availability, and trust.