UAE-based Beehive, a leading online marketplace for peer-to-peer (P2P) finance, has been certified as a Sharia-compliant P2P finance platform by the Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB), a provider of Sharia advisory and audit services.

The certification makes Beehive the first P2P platform in the world to have a third party independently confirm its processes are compliant with Sharia principles, a statement said.

The SRB review was conducted over a period of several weeks in June and July and entailed rigorous, end-to-end transactional assessment in which SRB’s Sharia scholars reviewed all operational processes, documentation, and relationship management on Beehive’s Islamic platform.

Yasser S Dahlawi, CEO at SRB said: "We are pleased with the confidence Beehive has placed in our comprehensive Sharia supervisory services and we look forward to helping them further develop their Islamic finance offer. Through the experience gained from various sectors we have ensured that our knowledge and flexible capacity services are well in line with current local market needs and expectations."

As the first online marketplace for P2P finance in the UAE, Beehive has channelled over Dh15 million ($4 million) worth of finance to more than 32 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) since its launch in November 2014. The innovative platform uses the principles of crowdfunding to provide companies with affordable and quick financing options, and allows Islamic investors to take full advantage of the opportunities that P2P finance has to offer while providing complete confidence that their values are respected and adhered to.

Sharia-compliant finance requests on Beehive are processed under a ‘Commodity Murabaha’ structure, using the award-winning ‘DMCC Tradeflow’ platform operated by the UAE-based Dubai Multi Commodities Centre.

Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, said: “As the first certified P2P finance platform in the world, we are proud to offer Islamic investors the opportunity to ethically invest in some of the most innovative SMEs in the UAE. Dubai is recognised as a global Islamic finance leader, and we are proud to support this vision by offering smart, Sharia-compliant investment options to investors, that directly support economic growth and employment in the country. ”

Mansoor M Ahmed, assistant general manager at SRB said: “With quick product certification, ease of access to Sharia scholars, and regular Sharia audit supervision, SRB has created a result-oriented Sharia advisory culture that enables our customers to develop Islamic finance structures which are aligned with their strategic business goals.”

Moore will be announcing the launch of Beehive’s Sharia-compliant P2P finance platform on September 2, at the Global Ethical Finance Forum in Edinburgh, Scotland where he will be speaking on a panel about the role of technology and disruptive innovation in facilitating responsible finance. - TradeArabia News Service