April 23rd, 2009
Meezan Bank Limited (MBL) has restructured the internal and external processes, documentation and procedures of the installment sale business of United Sales (Pvt.) Ltd. (USL) to make them Shariah compliant. In a ceremony held at a local hotel today, Meezan Bank Ltd issued Shariah Compliance Certificate to USL and from this point onwards, USL will have its installment sale operations under ‘Diyanat Financing’ which involves sale of USL’s merchandise on deferred payment (Bai Muajjal) to be fully compliant with Islamic Shariah principles.
Under the arrangement, Meezan Bank will provide continuous guidelines to USL for complying with the principles of Shariah and will also conduct an annual Shariah Compliance Review of the processes implemented by USL to ensure that the installment sales activities of USL are conducted in accordance with the principles of Islamic Shariah.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Irfan Siddiqui, President & CEO of Meezan Bank Ltd, said that this agreement shows that businesses in Pakistan are cognizant of the fast changing trends in the industry. They are revamping their business structures according to Shariah principles to provide their customers with best services in a Shariah-compliant manner. He said that this also reflects the immense growth potential in the Islamic way of doing business and the very positive trend of knowledge sharing by experienced players with the new entrants. Meezan Bank’s Islamic Finance knowledge and expertise would enable USL to earn good Halal returns. He informed that Meezan Bank is Shariah Advisor to almost all the Islamic Mutual Funds working in the country and that this is the first time a business outside the core banking sector has requested Meezan Bank to restructure their business according to Shariah principles.
