A brief about the Shari'ah Advisory Committee and Islamic Finance Department

Members of the Shariah consultation committee

The Shariah consultation committee is formed by:

Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Ali Elgari
Professor of Comparative Islamic Economics, King Abdulaziz University (formerly). He received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, and a distinguished scholar of Islamic banking, an expert in the Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, A member of the Advisory Board of the Harvard Series in Islamic Law at the Harvard Law School, and a member of a number of Shariah bodies of Islamic financial institutions within and outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Sheikh Dr. Yousef bin Abdullah Al-Shabbily
He is a member of the faculty of the Higher Judicial Institute at the Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University. He received his master's and doctorate from the Comparative Jurisprudence Department of the Higher Judicial Institute and his distinguished scholars in the jurisprudence of financial transactions. He is a prominent member of this institution. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Islamic Banking Association.

Duties of the Shariah consultation committee

• Review the structure of Islamic products, related documents, records, contracts, agreements, forms, and opinion and recommend amendments if any.
• Contribute to the innovation and development of products in light of the provisions of Shariah and in accordance with best International practices.
• Set framework for Islamic products, dividend / income purification and past due penalties (monitor spending of such amounts to charity).
• Adopting the Shariah Supervisory Program, and considering the reports of the Shariah Supervisory, and issuing the necessary provisions (Shariah Audit).

Powers of the Shariah consultation committee

• The right to access all the Bank's operations related to offering Shariah products and services, to identify other Shariah alternatives to ensure that they comply with the provisions of Shariah.
• The right of communication and direct communication with the concerned parties in the Bank, in order to facilitate the functioning of the Unified Shariah Board, and in case of non-response, direct contact with the concerned authorities.
• The Bank may not provide financial or investment services in accordance with the provisions of the Islamic Shariah, or offer Islamic products or contracts, except after submitting them to the Unified Shariah Board and taking their approval in the manner mentioned in these Regulations.
• All directives and Fatwas issued by the Shariah consultation committee shall be binding and enforceable by the relevant departments of the Bank. Other Departments to provide necessary supporting to implement this.

Decisions of the Shariah consultation committee

• The Shariah consultation committee shall issue its decisions or recommendations in the proceedings before it. The decision shall include a summary of the subject presented, and the final outcome of the Shariah consultation committee, together with evidence, reasons and supporters.
• Decisions of the Shariah consultation committee are binding on the Bank by its Board of Directors, its Executive Management and its staff, and are deemed to be enforceable from the date on which the Bank is notified.

Islamic Banking Department

The Islamic Banking Department is a subsidiary of the Wholesales Banking Group, which supports the Shariah consultation committee in achieving its objectives and performance, and It contains the following sections:

• Shariah Governance and Shariah Risk Section

  • Shariah Governance Section

    This Section seeks to:

    • Prepare and review internal policies and procedures for the Islamic banking Department in accordance with Shariah Regulations.
    • Prepare researches and studies; participate in seminars, panel discussions in the field of Islamic banking, and customer awareness.
    • To ensure Shariah quality
    • To carry out the work of the secretariat of the Shariah consultation committee. These works include:
      • Coordinating to arranging the Shariah consultation committee meeting.
      • Prepare the cases for presentation to Shariah consultation committee.
      • Provide clarifications to Shariah consultation committee Members queries.
      • Preparing minutes of the meeting and getting them signed off by the participants.
      • File, classify, index, facilitate the use of them, and inform the decisions and guidance of the Shariah consultation committee to the concerned parties in the Bank.

  • Shariah Audit & Risk Section

    This Section seeks to:

    • To ensure Shariah approval for all product or service is available prior to offering the same to customers.
    • Ensure compliance with Shariah consultation committee resolutions and guidelines, reviews the documents, contracts, and agreements signed by the customers.
    • Prepare checklists and conduct Shariah audit.
    • To discuss the Shariah audit observations and propose appropriate solutions to avoid those observations, in cooperation with the relevant departments of the Bank.
    • Prepare final audit report and present it to Shariah consultation committee for their sign-off and comments.

• Products and Business Support Section

  This Section seeks to:

  • To the develop Shariah Compliant products to meet market and customer needs, be consistent with the objectives of the Islamic economy and comply with regulatory directives.
  • To carry out awareness and training.
  • Identify the opportunities to offer Islamic products to existing and new Relationships of Bank with aim to grow revenues from these products.
  • Market new Islamic banking customer to enhance the Islamic banking portfolio.
  • Visits customers with business teams in order to understand the needs of the customer with regard to Islamic products and communicate the same to all stakeholders.
  • Liaise with all internal stakeholders to structure and implement all Islamic products properly in bank core system and Prepare NPPA for new products.
  • Interact with all stakeholders to ensure smooth operations and resolve any operational issues.