DIB launches Sharia consultancy subsidiary, Dar Al Sharia

Dar Al Sharia has evolved from the bank's Sharia Coordination Department, the first experiment of its kind in any Islamic bank, which has over four years of rich expertise in innovative structuring and implementation of a diverse range of Islamic finance transactions, including many landmark Sukuk issues.

Dar Al Sharia will also carry out research and development, Sharia 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 Sharia-compliant manner.

"As the world's first Islamic bank, DIB has established itself as the industry authority and trendsetter in Sharia best practices. DIB's first-mover advantage has given us immense Sharia expertise and strength, which will now be available to the industry at large," said H.E Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dubai Islamic Bank and Director-General of His Highness The Ruler's Court.

"We are very pleased to transform our Sharia expertise into the new consultancy firm, which literally means the house of Sharia. We are also fortunate that the driving forces behind our Sharia consultancy success, Dr. Hussain Hamed Hassan and Sohail Zubairi, will spearhead our new subsidiary along with their competent team."

Commenting on the strengths of the subsidiary, Khaled Al Kamda, Group Managing Director and CEO of DIB, said:

"DIB is widely recognised as a pioneer of several industry-first structures and products. It is such prolific capabilities that form the foundation of Dar Al Sharia, which we are confident, will become the worldwide powerhouse for Sharia guidance."

Dr. Hussain has been associated with the bank since 1999 in the capacity of Chairman of the Sharia Board of DIB.

He holds a doctorate in Sharia from Al Azhar University, Egypt, a master's degree in economics from Cairo University, and a master's degree in comparative law from New York University. Dr. Hussain will serve as Director of Dar Al Sharia.

He said: "DIB has long been at the forefront of the fast-paced growth experienced by the Islamic finance industry. We have completed over 1,400 transactions which include first-time ever Islamic structures, such as convertible Sukuk, multi-class Sukuk, Islamic Securitization, IPOs, Islamic Trust services, personal finance, rate swaps, currency swaps, and many other, aggregate value of which exceeds AED 400 billion since 2004. As this industry is set to witness an even further boom across the world, Dar Al Sharia will become a trusted source of high quality Sharia guidance to the institutions from around the globe.

Sohail Zubairi will be the new company's CEO.

He provides over 25 years of banking experience in the UAE and has been with DIB since 2001.

Under the direct guidance of Dr. Hussain, Zubairi has taken part in structuring many high-profile Sukuk and syndicated transactions, thereby gaining cutting-edge expertise in the application of Sharia principles in financial transactions.

He said: "The in-depth knowledge and insights that we have gained from Dr. Hussain over the past few years, coupled with our highly trained team of lawyers, financial experts, researchers and Sharia analysts are the greatest assets of Dar Al Sharia. Our aim is to continue to develop innovative yet fully Sharia-compliant financial tools on a fast-track basis to meet the needs of this dynamic market."