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A total of 31 entities won the ICAB National Award in 10 different categories for their best presented annual reports 2017.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) distributed the awards at a formal event held at a city hotel on Monday.
The IDLC Finance Limited, a leading non-bank financial institute, has become the overall winner of the ICAB award this year.
Bank Asia came out top in the bank category, followed by BRAC Bank and Dutch Bangla Bank.
In manufacturing category, British American Tobacco Bangladesh secured the top slot while GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh Ltd emerged second.
Green Delta Insurance Limited obtained the first position in the insurance category, followed by Prime Insurance and Reliance Insurance.
In the financial services category, IDLC has grabbed the top spot while Lanka Bangla Finance and IPDC have taken the second and third positions respectively.
In the corporate governance disclosure category, IDLC has again come out top, followed by Lanka Bangla Finance and British American Tobacco.
IDLC Finance also secured the first position in the Integrated reporting category while the second and third positions in this segment have been taken by Brac Bank and Bank Asia.
Among the public sector entities, the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh came out top while BRAC bagged the first position among the NGOs.
Grameenphone made it to the top in the Communication and IT category while Golden Harvest Agro Industries has grabbed the first and only spot in the agriculture segment.
A total of 11 entities also received Certificates of Merit.
The evaluation criteria of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA) was followed in evaluating the annual reports.
A nine-member jury board chaired by Md Matiul Islam, the country's first finance secretary, reviewed the recommended list of award winners as well as merit certificate winners.
Eight other members of the jury board were former advisers to caretaker government Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud, Rokia Afzal Rahman and Rasheda K Chowdhury, former Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman, former comptroller of auditor general of Bangladesh Ahmed Ataul Hakeem, Acting Editor of The Financial Express Shahiduzzaman Khan, former BSEC Chairman Faruq Ahmad Siddiqi and distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue Prof Mustafizur Rahman.
Speaking at the event, Finance Minister AMA Muhith emphasised the need to ensure trust and transparency of the corporate entities.
"Trust is something on which business expansion depends on," he said.
Reflecting on the upcoming election, the minister said, "The next government which will be formed after the election should focus on efficiency of public welfare and public service."
Comptroller and Auditor General Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, who was present as a special guest, said the award giving scheme of the ICAB encourages the companies to be more transparent.
"Especially when the publicly listed companies become more transparent, it enables investors to have some scopes to analyse the position of those companies in terms of profitability and sustainability," the CAG said.
"This helps people make sound decision about investing in the capital market."
"This, in turn, can help enlarge our capital market while providing people with a strong instrument for investing their savings," he added.
Finance Secretary Abdur Rouf Talukder, Secretary of Financial Institutions Division Md Ashadul Islam, Chairman of Financial Reporting Council CQK Mustaq Ahmed and ICAB President Dewan Nurul Islam also spoke on the occasion.
ICAB has been holding this event since 2001 to inspire to prepare the annual reports through transparency.