Canada's Al Huda Islamic Finance Consultancy Canada, which has just set up shop, is not letting the grass grow beneath its feet as the consultancy has already roped in two partners, Dar Al Sharia and Pakistan-based Burj Bank (formerly Dawood Islamic Bank).
The partnerships will enhance Al Huda's Shari'ah advisory service, allowing the Canadian company to co-opt Dar Al Sharia and Burj Bank's scholars onto their own Shari'ah boards to help them create products for the local Canadian market.
Al Huda is also in discussions with two large Canadian banks and several law firms to advise on the development of Islamic windows at Canadian banks, something that is not available in the Canadian market presently.
Further afield, Al Huda and its partners are looking at South America as a potential location where their advisory services could find a niche where the market size is likely to be too small to interest large Islamic banks, but where smaller institutions could thrive using Al Huda's Shari'ah advisory services.
In Canada, Al Huda is focused on assisting in the development of a stand-alone Islamic bank, something that has been sought after by several groups for years. However, several years have now passed with no approvals.
Al Huda's CEO, Abdulatif Memon, believes that by combining the expertise and market presence of one of the big five Canadian banks with the groups currently applying for a stand-alone license will increase the chances of success with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OFSI).
Although he's got a full plate, Memon shared preliminary details with The Islamic Globe of another project he's incubating, Al Huda Capital, which is developing plans for a residential community of 300 to 400 homes, retail businesses and an Islamic school 30 to 45 minutes northwest of Toronto.
At the moment the project is held up by the lack of sufficient Shari'ah compliant financing for the end purchasers according to Memon, which is perhaps something that can create a synergy with his advisory business into the future.
© The Islamic Globe 2011
