Friday 06 July 2012

Following the resignation of the entire Shariah Advisory Board of FNB Islamic Finance yesterday, FNB has responded to uncertainty in the Muslim community with a pledge to continue offering Shari oversight to its products.

Kirsten Edwards, Head of Corporate Affairs at FNB Wealth provided Cii with the following statement.

“FNB IslamicFinance has reconfirmed its commitment to the Muslim
community for the ongoing provision of Shari’ah compliant products through the appointment of a further two key strategic individuals.

Shaheen Suliman has joined the business as Chief Financial Officer and Yusuf Moola, will be joining the team on 01 August 2012 as an investment specialist. “These key appointments further reiterate FNB’s commitment to bolstering IslamicFinance’s capabilities, particularly in exploring new markets and a range of products that adhere to Shari’ah law,” says Amman Muhammad, newly appointed strategic head of FNB Islamic Finance. “Yusuf and Shaheen will add great depth of skill and expertise to an already sound IslamicFinance team. This team will be crucial in realising our African expansion objectives as well as the widening of our product set.”

Following the recent announcement of the South African National Treasury’s proposed issuing of ‘sukuk’, FNB IslamicFinance is answering the need for a more focused and disciplined approach to Islamic banking in South Africa and onto the continent.

“There are great things on the horizon for FNB IslamicFinance,” says Eric Enslin, Head of Client Engagement at FNB Wealth. “The team has our support as they leverage off FNB’s innovative transactional banking platform and, with the renewed focus on the strategic importance of IslamicFinance in FNB’s expansion strategy, we aim to continue to provide suitable alternative and compliant products to the Muslim community.”

“In our drive to establish a robust and sound Shari’ah governance structure, we are pleased to announce that we have secured a Shari’ah Supervisory Compliance Oversight Committee, following the termination of the services of the previous members of the Shari’ah Board. This committee of experienced scholars, Shaykh Mahomed Shoaib Omar and Mufti Zaid Haspatel, will monitor and ensure the ongoing compliance of our products and operations going forward, while we reconstitute a permanent Shari’ah board,” says Muhammad.

The appointment of this Shari’ah Supervisory Oversight Committee follows FNB’s termination of the services of the previous members of the Shari’ah Board. FNB and the members of the Shari’ah Board had differing views of the role of the board in the operational management of the business. The termination of services of the members of the Shari’ah Board in no way alters the compliance of our existing products and services or the validation of our Shari’ah certification.