UBS founded Noriba, the largest shariah bank in the world, headquartered in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The bank specializes in institutional and high net worth private clients seeking Sharia compliant investment opportunities. The business opportunities for Noriba are concentrated mainly in the creation and distribution of Sharia compliant products. UBS can now better meet these client needs via its integrated business model, the integration of Noriba into its single brand made business sense.
The idea behind the theme for this annual report was ancient manuscripts from the Holy Quran, since Noriba is sharia compliant banking, it seemed most fitting and quite an exciting project to take on. Dr. Abdul Latif Kanoo provided us access to his private collection of islamic art at the famous House of the Quran, a unique museum of the Holy Quran, housing rare and very valuable Islamic manuscripts. He allowed us to photograph the pieces contained in this brochure. With rubber gloves and instructions to touch nothing, the detailed and delicate ancient scripture was taken out from their glass casing and carefully photographed.