Baker Tilly assisting Charles Russell on Awal Bank collapse

Baker Tilly will be helping law firm Charles Russell unwind a Middle Eastern
bank which had a book value of $5bn (£3.1bn) when it collapsed.

The administration appointment was made by the Central Bank of Bahrain in its
statutory capacity as the banking regulator of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The appointment of a law firm as administrator of Awal Bank was seen by the
Central Bank as the best way forward given the number of legal cases Awal is
involved in or likely to become involved in.

Charles Russell partners Clive Hopewell and James Hyne are leading the
administration process while ‘being closely assisted by Baker Tilly
Restructuring and Recovery LLP,’ the firm said in a statement.

James Hyne, Head of Insolvency & Corporate Recovery at Charles Russell
said: ‘We are not yet able to determine how long the administration process will
last, though we will establish this as quickly as possible.

‘Awal had assets with a book value in excess of US$5bn at the time of
entering administration and we are seeking to verify the asset and creditor
positions as a matter of urgency, along with a wide variety of ancillary issues
that arise from this complex assignment.’