Safa Investment Services, a Swiss-based Islamic asset management business, this week received its official certification for Shari’a compliance from the Bahrain-based Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB).  

 

It makes Safa Investment Services the first Islamic global asset management business in the world, a statement from SRB said.

 

Safa’s founder John A Sandwick, said: “While many banks create and manage individual Shari’a-compliant investment products, there is no other global asset manager in the world with Shari’a certification for all elements of asset management.”

 

Safa Investment Services was created in 2012 by Islamic Wealth & Asset Management S A in Geneva, Switzerland.  Safa permits customers to benefit from global asset diversification of their managed accounts, but with a complete respect for the principles of Islamic law, known as Shari’a.

 

“In the context of Islamic investing, the application of Shari’a must coexist with the standards of professional asset management.  This includes not only selecting securities that meet global regulatory standards, but also the process to manage accounts and the contracts under which they are managed.  Our achieving full Shari’a compliance is significant, as it encompasses the entire asset management process,” Sandwick said.

 

Safa Investment Services is offered in Saudi Arabia by The Investor for Securities Co., one of the largest and most profitable companies in the Saudi investment market.  

 

SRB founder and CEO Yasser Dahlawi said: “We were pleased to advise and supervise the Shari’a compliance process for Safa. Thankfully working closely with the Safa team we were able to approve standards and procedures that not only meet tough global asset management standards, but also the tough standards applied by Shari’a. As part of our ongoing assurance we will continue to guide, monitor and certify the Shari’a health of Safa Investment on a periodical basis.”

 

Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) is one of the leading Shari’a advisory companies in the Islamic banking industry.  It provides Shari’a review and Certification (Fatawa) to many major banks and investment companies in France, Canada, Switzerland, and the GCC.  - TradeArabia News Service