13 June 2016
Arabian Shield has assigned Shariyah Review Bureau to ensure that it meets its Shari'a compliance requirements of setting up the Shari'a Board, managing ongoing supervision, administering Certification and Shari'a Audits.

Arabian Shield, a leading provider of premium insurance products and services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced that in order to manage its Shari'a Advisory affairs it has assigned the services of Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB).

Arabian Shield Cooperative Insurance Company was incorporated in May 2007 as a Saudi Joint Stock Company and was granted a license from SAMA in September 2007 to transact general and medical insurance business in Saudi Arabia. It operates under Cooperative model and voluntarily adopted a strong stand in line with Board direction to ensure that all investments of the Company are Sharia' compliant. With a sizable and consistently-profitable business portfolio, it is currently one of the most successful and reputable companies in the Saudi insurance market. In 2015, it managed to underwrite more than SR 531 million of premiums and SR 42 million of pre-zakat profits.

SRB has been operating in the GCC for more than ten years and has gained international recognition for its Shari'a Advisory role across markets especially in the Islamic insurance sector in the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia where it is the Shari'a Advisor for cooperative insurance firms which make up 49.55% of the market share (as of 30-Sep-2014) in the Kingdom.

SRB services supports the smart administration, implementation and transformation of Shari'a precepts in institutions and their transactions with an aim at optimizing and streamlining operations. "With offices in Bahrain, Jeddah and Dubai and scholarly resources expanding over fourteen countries SRB continues to invest in its resources and supervision capabilities" Mr. Yasser S. Dahlawi said in a release.

"While quality, cost, and quick product turnarounds continue to play a significant role in outsourcing Shari'a Advisory roles, it is the demonstration of creative abilities to solve wider business challenges in light of Shari'a which is now considered more exciting and relevant by the expanding Shari'a compliant sectors" He also adds. "We are pleased with the confidence Arabian Shield has placed in us to provide a broad spectrum of Shari'a supervisory services and look forward to working with them while developing and streamlining their Shari'a compliant operations."

Briefing on the success of institutionalized Shari'a Advisory services, Mansoor M. Ahmed, AGM at SRB states, "In our experience institutions who assign us have managed to stay on top of rapidly changing Islamic markets without having to expand their overheads, Shari'a infrastructure or capital. Mansoor continues explaining, "to keep in touch with the changing financial landscape while availing arising opportunities in the growing Islamic market, institutions needs to spend resources to meet Shari'a requirements. By assigning firms like SRB to manage all Shari'a compliant functions the Islamic institutions frees up a major portion of their capital. The arrangement also allows them to concentrate on building their prime businesses and saves them from spending their time and energy on Shari'a compliant functions and accounts."

© Press Release 2016