Shariah Capital selectively undertakes Shariah consulting mandates that can lead to more extensive, longer-term product development relationships. Our efforts include assembling teams of knowledgeable and experienced Islamic jurists to coordinate research followed by product certification and ongoing Shariah supervision. We also typically work with institutional clients and their legal counsel to explain the Shariah process and to facilitate compliance-related issues, including management of Shariah compliance risk and the challenges to specific product solutions.

Competitive Edge

The development of Shariah compliant investment products requires three critical and unique elements.

1. The first element is time and intellectual capacity with prominent Shariah scholars, especially those with qualifications, beyond the obvious academic qualifications in Shariah, in modern Finance or Economics. Experienced scholars with wide exposure to a variety of complex modern transactions are especially valuable in the development process.
2. The second element is input from legal professionals on structuring in compliance with Shariah, while dealing with issues of tax and regulatory compliance.
3. The third is the commercial element which includes business, financial and investment managers who understand products and can work with Shariah scholars to formulate new products that accommodate Shariah, legal and commercial mandates. It is the experience of Shariah Capital that Shariah scholars, working together with Western legal and finance professionals, should be involved at the earliest stages of the development process of a Shariah compliant product. Their leadership in defining pivotal issues and helping to devise practical solutions is invaluable to moving a product or investment project forward. Our experience at successfully sourcing and coordinating all of these elements is Shariah Capital’s competitive edge.

Access to Shariah Scholars

With the dramatic rise in demand for Shariah compliant products, internationally-recognized Shariah scholars are in high demand. Shariah Capital enjoys close working relationships with some of the most reputable scholars in Islamic finance, the result of Eric Meyer’s early and full-time commitment since 2000 to learn directly from, and to work individually and collectively with, prominent Shariah scholars. To address the problems caused by scholar shortages, Shariah Capital consolidated and enhanced its capacity with Shariah scholars in October, 2006 by hiring Shaykh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo of Washington, D.C. as its full-time Chief Shariah Officer and a member of its Board of Directors. The position of Chief Shariah Officer is believed to be unique to Shariah Capital. It is designed to maximize Shariah resources at a time when Shariah scholars increasingly find themselves constrained by multiple obligations. In this role, Shaykh Yusuf draws upon his relationships with Shariah scholars around the world to assemble critical thinkers best suited for Shariah Capital’s advisory mandates. With Shaykh Yusuf’s assistance, Shariah Capital has formulated a process for identifying and commissioning Shariah scholars to work on projects best suited to their particular capabilities while committing to reliable product timelines and workflows. With his experience, scholarship and industry profile, Shaykh Yusuf plays a key role in ensuring the Shariah compliance of all of Shariah Capital’s assignments, as well as in assessing the feasibility of proposals and assisting in project development and execution. Working with management, Shaykh Yusuf coordinates wide-ranging groups of Shariah specialists to work with business and legal teams through the various phases of projects from development to certification and, finally, to ongoing supervision.