​EFG Hermes, the leading investment bank in the Arab world, has been recognized as Best Brokerage House in Egypt by emeaFinance magazine, recognizing its outstanding performance in one of the most challenging years on record. This is the second straight year EFG Hermes has taken home the emeaFinance Award. The firm has also been named among Africa’s top three Best Performing Brokers by Africa Investor magazine and Best Broker in Egypt by African Banker magazine at its gala awards ceremony in Istanbul. “We are very pleased to have been named for these awards given the challenging investment climate that has dominated financial markets since the second half of 2008,” says Sherif Cararah, Managing Director of EFG Hermes Securities Brokerage. “We have maintained our lead because of our consistent efforts to deliver market-leading services to retail and institutional investors alike. We have done this by prioritizing expansion at the national level, as we have with our new retail points of presence in Egypt, for example, as well as by physically entering new markets such as Oman and Kuwait.” The result, Cararah says, is a platform that facilitates transactions and executions in five direct and six indirect markets across the region. EFG Hermes Securities Brokerage has maintained a leading position on the Egyptian Exchange throughout 2009, securing a 40% share of total market transactions at mid-year with total trades up 126% from the previous quarter at EGP 43 billion. Meanwhile, total executions across the firm’s regional network jumped almost 170% to US$ 22 billion at the end of June 2009. The firm’s expansion of its retail presence, part of a plan that started in 2008, has seen three new branch locations open up across Egypt in 2009. At the same time, the number of users trading on the firm’s online platform had grown 38.6% quarter-on-quarter at the end of June 2009.