A leading insurance provider, Saudi Arabian Insurance Company (SAICO), today signed the Sharia advisory agreement with Shariyah Review Bureau to strengthen and grow its core insurance business in light of Sharia principles. The arrangement is targeted at certifying and maintaining products, investments and insurance growth opportunities in compliance to Sharia in the year 2019 and beyond.
SAICO is on upward journey path and is exploring new avenues of growth in the Kingdom’s insurance sector. “This is an exciting time for SAICO, as we launch into our next phase of growth,” said Hasan Abdullah Bin Dorar, Chief Executive Officer and President at SAICO. “Over the years we have built a fabulous portfolio of insurance offerings, and we now have a constructive opportunity to combine these with Sharia compliant solutions to address the value based business needs of our customers.” The appointment of Shariyah Review Bureau to head up the Sharia compliance management of SAICO’s business in Saudi Arabia, is a reflection of the company’s commitment to its growth journey. Hasan added, “We expect Sharia compliance to supplement our growth and we will continue to explore new opportunities in the Kingdom that fit our strategy and proven track record.”
“SAICO continues to grow and now we are planning to grow strategically using Sharia compliant products as our experience shows that this is the real need of our customers,” said Mohan J. Varghese, CFO, SAICO. “This is why we are drawing connections with SRB to address our Sharia compliance administration thereby giving us an competitive edge in offering Sharia compliant insurance. We will also continue to work closely with our customers to ensure we are providing optimum support for their growing needs.”
The rapid development in the Cooperative Insurance sector has made the outsourcing of Sharia certification and Sharia audit today much more accessible for both small and large insurance firms. Shariyah Review Bureau’s experience shows that large institutions concentrate on inner Sharia resources and cost reduction, while small firms require access to quicker scholarly resources or specialized expertise so as to move faster and acquire new opportunities. SRB sets up tailor-made Sharia advisory solutions for insurance companies giving them efficiency and better understanding of Sharia compliance management.
There are two main objectives for outsourcing Sharia Board services, first is affordability and second is the quality of service. Speaking on this Yasser S. Dahlawi, CEO and Founder of SRB said “Outsourcing Sharia Board and Sharia audit services actually reduces operating costs on Islamic insurance firms as they do not have to invest in scholars, review officers, Sharia auditors and headcount since we take care of all these functions thereby allowing them to focus on their core competencies. At the same time, the insurance firms get local access to global Sharia expertise through our platform.”
“We remain committed to continuing to provide the highest level of Sharia advisory services to our clients and we are looking forward to reviewing SAICO’s products, investments and operations that will help them provide business continuity with Sharia compliance.”
