IslamicFinance.de

As Italy's demand for mini-bonds grows, Nctm Studio Legale (Nctm), a law firm, has hired Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) to help it structure an Islamic Bond. Under the agreement, SRB will collaborate with Nctm to help structure and certify the mini-bonds in light of Sharia guidelines. Shariyah Review Bureau team has many years of experience in a range of industries, specializing in Investment Funds, banking, insurance, agriculture, and Asset Management. The demand for their services has quadrupled over the years with 2015 being the most eventful year. SRB expects this Islamic bond to open new venues of connecting capital with businesses in Italy and also help provide new opportunities to the SME sector.

Beehive, UAE’s online marketplace for peer-to-peer (P2P) finance, has been certified as a Sharia-compliant P2P finance platform by the Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB). The SRB review was conducted over a period of several weeks in June and July 2015 during which SRB’s Sharia scholars reviewed all operational processes, documentation, and relationship management on Beehive’s Islamic platform. As the first online marketplace for P2P finance in the UAE, Beehive has channelled over AED 15 million ($4m) worth of finance to more than 32 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) since its launch in November 2014. Finance requests on Beehive are processed under a ‘Commodity Murabaha’ structure, using the ‘DMCC Tradeflow’ platform.

Saudi's Ijmal LLC has hired Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB), to help achieve Sharia Compliance in all its business activities. In this role, SRB will lead and oversee the company's Sharia compliant operations with global standards. Ijmal was incorporated in 2014 by Al Deghaither Group, Al-Othaim Holding, ICD and Nizwa Bank. Ijmal partners with real estate developers through a hybrid structure that incentivizes developers to achieve better quality products. Ijmal started its operations targeting developments located in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Khobar. So far, Ijmal has partnered with one developer building 68 sea-front apartments in Kohbar Saudi Arabia.

Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) has signed a strategic partnership with Russia-based Islamic Business and Finance Development Fund (IBFD Fund) to become its Official Sharia Advisory Partner. Under the agreement, IBFD Fund’s partnership will leverage SRB’s extensive Shari’a consultation footprint and scholarly network to promote, upgrade and administer Russian financial establishments to set up Sharia compliant funds and transactions. Alongside the Sharia Advisory activities, the engagement will see SRB focus on developing and building its scholarly capabilities in the Russian language while IBFD Fund will add promotional service locations to its existing network as well as increasing their overall capabilities. The partnership will also strengthen credibility between CIS and GCC countries in the domain of Islamic finance.

The Association for Development of Islamic Finance (ADIF) announced the signing of memorandum on cooperation with Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB). ADIF solely supported by National Bank of Republic of Kazakhstan (NBRK), is responsible for promoting, enhancing and maintaining the Islamic financial sector and cooperation with investors from GCC and South East Asia. The agreement was signed at the 12th IFSB Summit which took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Speaking at the Summit, Chairman of the Presidium, Zaratkazy Nurpiisov said, given the magnitude of Muslim population, enormous oil reserves, rich minerals and metal explorations the country has considerable advantages for Islamic finance.

Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) is celebrating its 10th anniversary of service to clients. In the last five years, SRB has intensified its dedication to serving clients by providing shari’a consultation, certification (Fatawa), Islamic industry jurisprudential foresight, and functional Shari’a compliance audit expertise. The number of Islamic projects have been increasing, so far SRB has completed more than 300 projects in the last four years, helping clients cover a wide spectrum of transactions ranging from sukuks (including trade finance sukuk), private equity funds, equity projects, trade finance transactions, margin trading, real estate developments, ICT deals, money market, textile, sports and pharma funds.

Seattle-based Falah Capital is preparing to launch an Islamic exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks large U.S. stocks, the latest sharia-compliant product in a market. The ETF will be advised by Exchange Traded Concepts and Mellon Capital Management, with Bahrain-based Shariyah Review Bureau acting as sharia advisor, according to a filing with the SEC.

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBAR), the biggest bank in Azerbaijan managing more than 35% of total banking assets in the country, has announced the signing of a Shari'a Supervisory agreement with Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB). IBAR hopes that SRB and its experience will help the bank to build the Shari'a Complaint business and lift its Islamic financial sector to a successful future. Shariyah Review Bureau is today recognized globally for its iconic Shari'a Compliance services. With more than 37 Shari'a scholars, the company's growth includes recently doubling Shari'a review and Certification capacity in the GCC. As the pace of change in the Islamic financial industry accelerates at an international level, institutionalized services of Shari'a Advisory firms like SRB has become increasingly evident.

SEDCO Capital announced assigning the External Shari’a Audit of its $160 million real estate funds to Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB). The two funds which SRB will be periodically auditing the implementation of the Shari’a h guidelines are SEDCO Capital Partners Group Opportunities Fund and SEDCO Capital Real Estate Income Fund I. SRB will independently ensure that the investments, Zakah verification, implementation of the modalities and reporting functions are conducted in accordance with the Shari’a guidelines set out by SEDCO Capital Shari’a Supervisory Board.

Saudia's investment banking and asset management firm Anfaal Capital has announced the outsourcing of the Shari'a Supervisory function to Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB). As the new Shari'a Advisor, SRB will oversee and supervise the firms Shari'a Compliance needs from Product structuring to Fatwa issuing, and from stock screening to periodical Shari'a Audits. By having a team of shariah scholars and experts, SRB has the ability to deliver speedy solutions to the business while maintaining the level of Shariah standards. This in turn is expected to contribute to Anfaal's business growth and to meet the needs of the firm's stakeholders.

Saudi firm Wataniya Insurance Company announced the commissioning of Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) as their Sharia advisor. Shariyah Review Bureau will oversee and supervise the company's Shari'a Compliance needs from Product structuring to Certification, and from Investments to periodical Shari'a reviews. According to Mr. Yasser Dahlawi, CEO at Shariyah Review Bureau, outsourcing Shari'a Supervisory functions is changing the landscape of the whole Islamic financial industry. It has been accelerated with greater demand from Institutional clients seeking cost-effective measures and a dynamic environment in having there queries and products quickly reviewed and verified, he added. Shariyah Review Bureau is currently serving 22% of the listed Cooperative Insurance companies in Saudi Arabia.

Simply Sharia Human Capital (SSHC) is now offering the Islamic Finance Qualification (IFQ) in collaboration with the Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB). The SRB-SSHC partnership will deliver the internationally recognised and UK-certified IFQ across the Gulf region. The IFQ is accredited by the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments (CISI), equipping candidates with a practical understanding of Islamic finance principles, products and models of business. The qualification will prepare candidates with knowledge of Islamic finance including Sukuk, Takaful, Mudaraba, Musharaka and Murabaha as well as offer an insight into the influence of Shari'ah in a business context.

Al Khonji Real Estate & Development (Aqar) signed today that it has hired the services of Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB), to advice and supervise its future course of actions and transactions in light of Shari'a principles. Mohamed Al Khonji, Chairman/CEO, said that it has decided to spread its wings in the real estate market while ensuring it is truly Shari'a compliant. The assignment of Shariyah Review Bureau is expected to help developing an enterprise-wide Shari'a compliant framework, which will cover compliance with Islamic finance across all function streams in Aqar.

Shariyah Review Bureau and Ahmad Lootah & Associates will cooperate in future in order to better serve the growing demands of UAE clients that are seeking advisory on sharia investments. The strategic relationship marks the commitment of both companies to certifying businesses and their transactions from the view of sharia investors.