ALIF to offer Shariah-compliant custody and administration service as total assets under management hit estimated US$ 5.3 billion with growing number of Mid East investment funds
Today, Luxembourg ranks fifth worldwide by number of Shariah compliant funds and the number of Middle East-based managers launching investment funds in Luxembourg has increased constantly. There are 41 regulated Shariah compliant investment funds domiciled in Luxembourg and total Assets under Management in Shariah compliant funds are estimated at US$ 5.3 billion.
As such four Luxembourg-based companies are now joining forces to create a specialised platform that will service Shariah-compliant investment funds. Amanie Advisors, ADEPA Asset Management, Theisen Law, and KBL European Private Bankers have launched a service that will be branded ALIF (Alliance for Luxembourg Islamic Finance), offering fund managers a service to have their custodianship and fund servicing carried out in a Shariah-compliant manner.
Specifically assets will be held in segregated pools and prohibited from being used for short-selling or as security for interest-based lending, two activities prohibited under Islamic law. ALIF aims to compete on price and service in order to take advantage of the growing number of such funds in the market.
Commenting on the launch, Carlos Alberto Morales, CEO of ADEPA Asset Management, said: "Our clients will be able to take advantage of all the benefits of the Luxembourg fund structures and also have their funds administered locally in a professional and transparent way, and in a way that is in keeping with the religious practice."
The ALIF service will feature legal work covered by Theisen Law, a well-established and leading law firm active in Luxembourg; as well as the Islamic Finance expertise by Amanie Advisors.
Funds registered by ALIF will be registered under the Luxembourg fund regime and be established to comply with Islamic prohibitions on investing in gambling, interest-based banking, alcohol and pornography-related industries, amongst others. Additionally, the securities will be disallowed as security for lending activities.
The portfolios and processing of these funds will be periodically reviewed by the Shariah Supervisory Board of Amanie Advisors, which is comprised of Dr. Mohamed Ali Elgari, Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar, Dr. Muhammad Amin Ali Qattan, and Dr. Osama Al Dereai.
Commenting on Amanie Advisor's role in ALIF Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar, Amanie's founder and group chairman commented, "For many years the market for Islamic funds has concentrated on the Shariah-compliant investment of the assets only. Whilst this is important, it is a great development to have one efficient service that assures the compliance of both the investment activities as well as the administration and custody of Islamic funds."
-Ends-
About Amanie Advisors:
Amanie Advisors is a globally recognized Shariah advisory firm in the field of Islamic finance. Guided by an internationally-renowned Shariah Supervisory Board, the team at Amanie offers assistance in the structuring and Shariah endorsement of investment funds, sukuk, and other financial products for their governmental and corporate clients; provides on-going supervision to fund managers; as well as an annual Shariah compliance review. Additionally, the firm organizes seminars and symposia on issues facing the Islamic Finance industry; offers in-house training to all levels of employees on topics dealing with Islamic Finance; and distributes, comprehensive professional courses leading to qualification in Islamic Finance. The group focuses on Shariah financial structuring & advisory, capital markets activities and strategic placements. Amanie's uniqueness is its independence and relationship-driven business focus. Amanie currently serves institutional investors, corporations and financial institutions and has offices in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Cairo, Melbourne, Muscat, Astana, Seoul, Dublin and Luxembourg.
www.amanieadvisors.com
About ADEPA Asset Management:
ADEPA Asset Management is an independent global leading provider of Investment Fund and Corporate Services, Private Equity & Real Estate administration, UCIT IV Management Company and Asset Management addressed to institutional and professional investors around the globe.
Founded in 1980 and currently headquartered in Luxembourg, ADEPA Asset Management provides clients with support oriented to give tailor-made solutions for ideas in a global financial world.
The ADEPA group is regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) in Luxembourg as a UCITS IV Management Company and by the Ordre des Experts-Comptables (OEC) as a fiduciary company.
www.adepa.com
About Theisen Law:
Theisen Law is a fully independent law firm based in Luxembourg. Theisen Law has been proving legal services of the utmost quality to a wide and diversified base of Luxembourg and overseas corporate customers, principally active in the financial, the industrial and the service sectors.
In order to be in a position to provide fully integrated legal services, with a worldwide dimension, Theisen Law relies both on its own team of legal experts specialized in various legal fields as well as its cooperation network with major international law firms all around the globe. Theisen Law Islamic finance team is composed of Shariah as well as legal experts, which makes it possible to deal with any type of request for legal services addressed to it in relation to Islamic finance matters. Theisen Law team has a vast experience in Shariah compliant structures, especially Islamic investment funds and Sukuk structures.
Mr. Sufian Bataineh, Of Counsel at Theisen Law, has more than fifteen years of work experience and a diversified educational background: BA. in Law from the University of Jordan, LL.M. in Commercial, European & International Law from the University of Sheffield, UK and a Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration from the Open University Business School, UK. During the last five years, since Sufian became a member of the Middle-East and Islamic finance working groups at the Luxembourg Investment Funds Association, Sufian has managed to become a reference of Islamic finance principles in Luxembourg, especially after winning the first prize of the Luxembourg Association for the Banking Lawyers of his article "Islamic Finance: Opportunities and Challenges of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg" in 2008. Sufian has an in-depth knowledge of corporate law, banking and financial law, investment funds as well as Islamic finance principles, which enables him to advise clients in connection with corporate structuring and restructuring of international transactions and financing of groups of companies. Sufian is a regular speaker at international events and conferences addressing different legal and economic issues, in particular Islamic finance topics. Sufian speaks fluent Arabic, French and English.
www.theisenlaw.lu
About KBL European Private Bankers:
Established in Luxembourg in 1949, focusing on private banking and supported by a network of "pure - play" private banks in Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, KBL European Private Bankers offers solutions adapted to the needs of a large client base across Europe wishing to entrust the management of its wealth to a well-known banker:
• specialised in wealth management;
• capable of providing bespoke solutions;
• using open architecture which allows the integration of powerful tools from other financial players;
• close to its clients and their culture;
• wishing for a relationship where integrity, discretion and user-friendliness are paramount.
Beside its core business, KBL epb has a long standing experience in providing a broad range of services to investment funds and other institutional clients (banks, insurance companies, pension funds and external asset managers), encompassing custody of assets (safekeeping, settlement, compliance,...) through a large network of sub-custodians throughout the world, tailored and accurate technical infrastructure to support day-to-day operations and subsequent reporting, global market sales, multilingual and highly experienced professionals
www.kbl.lu
Media contact:
ALIF (Alliance for Luxembourg Islamic Finance)
Mr. Carlos Alberto Morales
Chief Executive Officer
ADEPA Asset Management SA.
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Tel: (+352) 26 89 80 31
Fax: (+352) 26 89 80 40
E-mail: ca.morales@adepa.com
For more information on ALIF, please feel free to check the web-site www.alif-lux.com.
Media contact:
Nathalie Visele
Director
Shamal Marketing Communications
Dubai Media City
UAE
Tel: +9714 3652711
Cell: +971 50 457 6525
Email: nathalie@smc-pr.com
© Press Release 2013
