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DIB launches Shariah consultancy company

DUBAI - Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC (DIB) yesterday announced the launch of a subsidiary to offer consultancy for Islamic financing and investment transactions.

Announcing the creation of Dar Al Shariah Legal and Financial Consultancy LLC, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DIB and Director-General of The Ruler's Court, said as the world's first Islamic bank and a trendsetter in Shariah best practices, the Dubai-based company is better-positioned to set up a consultancy in Shairah law and Islamic financial deals.

Al Shaibani said DIB's "first-mover advantage" has given it immense Shariah expertise and strength that will now be available to the industry at large. "We want to transform our Shariah expertise into the new consultancy firm. The driving forces behind our Shariah consultancy success, Dr. Hussain Hamed Hassan and Sohail Zubairi, will spearhead this new subsidiary.”

Speaking to reporters, Sohail Zubairi, Dar Al Shariah's chief executive, said the subsidiary would expand its operation to other countries, including Pakistan and the UK to tap the growing-demand for Islamic finance. "We will set up base in Pakistan by the end of this year, and in the UK by early next year," he said.

Dar Al Shariah currently has 12 clients, which include Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, which is planning to set up an Islamic banking arm, and First Gulf Bank. "We will soon be adding at least 10 more by the end of this year," he said.

Dar Al Shariah has evolved from DIB's Shariah Coordination Department, which has over four years of expertise in innovative structuring and implementation of a diverse range of Islamic finance transactions, including many Sukuk issues.

Khaled Al Kamda, Group Managing Director and CEO of DIB, said from sixth position in 2007, the Dubai bank has emerged as the number one Islamic bank in the region by recording Dh20 billion in Islamic transactions in the first half of 2008. "As a pioneer of several industry-first structures and products, DIB is confident that this new venture will become the worldwide powerhouse for Shariah guidance." In 2007, DIB posted Dh2.5 billion in net profit, up 60 per cent, on total revenues of Dh7 billion. Total assets in 2007 reached Dh84.3 billion, an increase of 31 per cent.

Dar Al Shariah will also carry out research and development, Shariah training, audit and rating functions. The company will closely liaise with clients, lawyers, bankers and investors on an end-to-end basis, from the initial concept through to the completion of transaction structure and documentation, in a fully Shariah-compliant manner.

He said DIB has long been at the forefront of the $1 trillion Islamic finance industry worldwide, growing at 15 per cent per annum.

"We have completed over 1,400 transactions which include first-time ever Islamic structures, such as convertible Sukuk, multi-class Sukuk, Islamic Securitisation, IPOs, Islamic Trust services, personal finance, rate swaps, currency swaps, and many other, aggregate value of which exceeds Dh400 billion since 2004. As this industry is set to witness an even further boom, Dar Al Shariah will become a trusted source of Shariah guidance to the institutions." isacjohn@gmail.com