The General Assembly of Bank of Palestine PLC agreed to distribute 29.38% as free shares to shareholders from the realized profits in 2007. Mr. Shawa confirms the entrance of strategic investors in BOP.

BOP held Friday morning on April 25th, 2008 the 47th an ordinary meeting of the General Assembly of the shareholders at the Bank of Palestine Center, Remal, Gaza and in the head office of General management at Ramallah in the West Bank. The two halls were connected by video conference system.

The General Assembly of Bank of Palestine confirms the recommendations of the Board of Directors to distribute USD 17,564,193 as free shares from the retained earnings in 2007 to the registered shareholders on 24/04/2008 according to the percentage of ownership of each shareholder.

The Chairman, Mr. Yousef Nijm, in his speech talked about the great achievements of the former Chairman and General Manager. Dr. Hani Shawa, for his remarkable contribution which have alleviated the status of this economic institution to its nowadays prosperity and development. He stated that the bank has realized a profit that amounted to USD 20,579,398 which is an increase of 48.01% compared to 2006 profits. In addition, he mentioned that Owner's Equity has increased by 60.38% which amounted to USD 90,218,428. He said that that 2007 financial statements prove the rationality of policies that the bank follows.

The Vice Chairman and General Manager, Mr. Hashim Shawa, confirms in his speech that Dr. Shawa methods which are built on improvement and modernization will be adopted. He also assures that the bank will do its utmost efforts to preserve its first rank among other operating banks in Palestine as the bank has 31 branches and sub-branches across Palestine. Mr. Shawa stated that the bank opened in the last week a sub-branch in Yata - Hebron and new sub-branches in both Abu-Dis–Jerusalem and Saeer- Hebron will be opened soon.

Mr. Shawa clarified that many funds and strategic investors have started buying BOP Share and he also indicated that performance of the bank in the first quarter in this year outperforms the performance of the bank in the first quarter in 2007 as this information will be announced in the coming week according to the prevailing laws.