Retail Banking Applications

The objective is to develop Shari'ah compliant products for the retail banking market in Belgium. The developed financial products & services should fulfil two conditions:

1.      comply with the principles of the Shari'ah and
2.      comply with the Bank's accounting, operational, legal & prudential environment

In a typical bank, project phases include :

• Reviewing existing products
• Defining target list of products to be adapted for Shari'ah
• Performing full Shari'ah validation process
• Ensuring regulatory compliance
• Setting-up Pilot
• Understanding Lessons from Pilot Experience
• Implementing at Larger Scale
• Following-up with Audit and Process Requirements

Car leasing application

Shari'ah compliant car financial solutions are being developed, according to a similar approach to banking applications.

Belgian market survey

In Belgium, a market survey has been performed to find out the current usage of conventional and Islamic-based financial products and services. The importance of the Islamic principles for the consumers relating to financial products and services has been assessed.  The study estimates the interest in potential Islamic-based financial products and services.

The recent developments and opportunities for Shari'ah compliant products in Belgium were presented at Islamic Retail Banking Conference in 2005.