Beehive has become the first peer-to-peer (P2P) finance platform to be granted a Sharia compliance certificate.
The certificate was issued by the Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB), and announced by Beehive founder Craig Moore at the Global Ethical Finance Forum in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The certification makes Beehive the first P2P platform in the world to have a third party independently confirm its processes are compliant with Sharia principles.
Speaking about the SRB review period of Beehive, which took place during during the summer, Yasser S Dahlawi, CEO at SRB, said: “We are pleased with the confidence Beehive has placed in our comprehensive Sharia supervisory services and we look forward to helping them further develop their Islamic finance offer.
“Through the experience gained from various sectors we have ensured that our knowledge and flexible capacity services are well in line with current local market needs and expectations.”
SRB’s Sharia scholars undertook a rigorous, end-to-end transactional assessment to review all operational processes, documentation, and relationship management on Beehive’s Islamic platform.
Sharia-compliant finance requests on Beehive are processed under a ‘Commodity Murabaha’ structure, using the award-winning ‘DMCC Tradeflow’ platform operated by the UAE-based Dubai Multi Commodities Centre.
As the first online marketplace for P2P finance in the UAE, Beehive uses the principles of crowdfunding to provide companies with affordable and quick financing options.
It also allows Islamic investors to take full advantage of the opportunities that P2P finance has to offer while providing complete confidence that their values are respected and adhered to.
Since the launch in November 2014, Beehive has channelled over AED15 million ($4 million) worth of finance to more than 32 SMEs.
Commenting on the Sharia-compliance certification, Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, said: “As the first certified P2P finance platform in the world, we are proud to offer Islamic investors the opportunity to ethically invest in some of the most innovative SMEs in the UAE.
“Dubai is recognised as a global Islamic finance leader, and we are proud to support this vision by offering smart, Sharia-compliant investment options to investors, that directly support economic growth and employment in the country.”
