Islamic Finance

The global Islamic finance industry is worth approximately US$ 2 trillion across the fields of banking, wealth and asset management, takaful, capital markets, and emerging areas such as FinTech.

Most of this activity is taking place in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, Malaysia and Indonesia. This broad geography is ideally served from DIFC.

As this market develops, DIFC provides a particularly effective platform to capture these opportunities. The Centre offers a regulated environment with a regime specifically designed to support both Islamic financial services firms and conventional firms operating Shari’a-compliant windows.

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) manages the Islamic Finance Regulatory Regime. This regime requires firms to have a Shari’a Supervisory Board comprised of at least three competent scholars. It also ensures firms comply with the standards and principles of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB).

Islamic financial services firms also benefit from DIFC’s cooperation with the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre, which is working to realise Dubai’s vision to be at the centre of the global Islamic economy. Through joint projects and initiatives, DIFC ensures that firms in the centre are in touch with opportunities and developments in the global Islamic finance sector.