A Leading GCC Islamic Bank Plans Entry into Canada

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• mohamed 47 days ago
  0 Takbeers
  after the UM scandal, people will switch if its is provided by an established bank (HSBC, RBC, BMO..)
  
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• Ghulam 152 days ago
  0 Takbeers
  Free Consultation and Advise- Fe-Sabilillah. The information given below is only to establish my bonafides & offer a free advisory. I am a semi-retired Banker, fmr.SEVP & Head of Islamic Banking Operations of one of the largest banks of Pakistan(1400+) branches,Member of the Islamic Banking Committeee of the State Bank of Pakistan (( comprising of Heads of all the Islamic banks of Pakistan & Muftis),Financial Advisor-Board of Trade,Tanzania, Fellow of The Institute of Islamic Banking & Finance,UK and a visiting Faculty Member at Bahria, Pak-Keit,Szabist and other Universites lecturing on Islamic Banking & Finance.I hold an FCA(Icap),FCIS (UK),CSC,IFIC,FIIBI, +++ Currently, I am associted as a Consultant with a group which is working on setting up Canada's 1st set of Islamic financial institutions which will offer, officially approved, financial products such as Mortgages, Insurance,Mutual Funds,REITS,etc. I hope Canada will replace UK as the hub of Islamic Banking & Investments as it offers stability,security & unlimited investment opportunities. I am free on Saturdays only from 4-6 pm but can conduct Seminars for those who may be interested. I do not wish to get involved into any arguments on the subject with anyone as I respect you all and your understanding of your faith.
  
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  • Yousef 152 days ago
    0 Takbeers
    I would agree with you, love to understand your standpoint and willing to assist as well, as long as you are not associated with UM Financials, because your credibility will be at ZERO level.. An honest advise, STAY AWAY FROM UM FINANCIAL!
    
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    • Ghulam 151 days ago
      0 Takbeers
      Am only associated with the new up-coming financial group though approached by quite a few. I only advise if someone wants it on any particular area like if taking a mortgage and wants to know the go about, the main material clauses of the Musharaka cum Ijaraa agreement etc. The drafting etc must be done through a lawyer. Am neither selling anything nor have free time for discussions. ghulam48@hotmail.com
      
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      • Yousef 151 days ago
        0 Takbeers
        You have no time for discussions!!! Anyway, I'm not here to discuss or argue with anyone.. My message is to warn people from falling for UM Financial schemes.
        
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• Global Citizen 153 days ago
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  Gold Fingers: In what would seem like a scene from a Hollywood thriller a man apparently caught up in events beyond his control is told to rendezvous in the dead of the night in a deserted suburban parking lot and hand over a consignment of gold and silver bullion to make good on the debts of a secretive organization. The plot involves intrigue, mystery, foreign travel, courtroom drama and exotic characters – but this isn’t the next installment of the James Bond saga – it’s court testimony from the current legal case against UM Financial Inc and its CEO, Omar Kalair [pictured]. Last month The Islamic Globe broke the story about the collapse of Canadian Islamic finance company, UM Financial Inc and the bizarre payment of $2.1m in gold and silver made by Kalair to its Shari’ah advisory board. It’s these payments, according to his own sworn testimony, that found Kalair in a parking lot in the middle of the night handing over gold and silver bullion to Joseph Adam, the finance manager of the newly formed firm Multicultural Consultancy Canada, for Shari’ah compliance services the MCC provided to the Canadian Islamic mortgage company. This newspaper followed up with the disclosure that UM’s ‘international Shari’ah committee’ still advertised on its website including Sheikh Nizam Yaqubi, Dr. Aznan Hasan and Dr. Mufti Muhammad Zubair Usmani had distanced themselves from Kalair. The MCC Shari’ah board in question is a local organization. In the latest twist in the saga, the receiver Grant Thornton deposed Kalair and Mufti Yusuf Panchbhaya, chairman of this local Shari’ah board, to explain the transfer of gold and silver to Adam outside a suburban drug store in early October, three days before the court ordered UM Financial Inc into receivership. A month later, the gold had disappeared and Adam had flown Canada for Egypt. The receiver has now demanded the court allow entry to Adam’s store, with assistance from the sheriff, to try and recover the missing gold. With the fate of the homeowners who received financing from UM still in doubt, the receiver is left still searching for the funds paid to the local Shari’ah board in gold. The silver paid with the gold was returned to GT by Panchbhaya after a court order, but the lion’s share of the precious metals still remains unaccounted for. In new court documents, a fuller picture emerges of the payments made to the Shari’ah board, incorporated as MCC in order to take payment of the Shari’ah board’s fee. During the summer, three of the five Shari’ah board members demanded payment for the time they spent on behalf of UM Financial Inc. UM had started developing Islamic financial products in 2003. The remaining two board members had previously left the board, one resigning and one leaving to move to the UK. On September 26, Panchbhaya sent Kalair an invoice for $2.7m, payable to the MCC, for the services of the Shari’ah board and told Kalair that he would instruct him when to pay. Panchbhaya and his lawyer had declined requests for comment by the time The Islamic Globe went to press. MCC then attempted to intervene in the case, ostensibly to provide Shari’ah advice to the process but its motion was denied because, in part, it was not a creditor of UM Financial Inc. The motion was denied on the same day an invoice was created, which would make MCC a creditor, although both Panchbhaya and Kalair testified that the timing of the invoice was unrelated to the court’s denial of MCC’s motion to intervene. MCC had incorporated a week earlier and had not yet established a bank account, so the partial payment was to be made with the $2.1m in coinage. The metals were paid for in cash drawn by Kalair from UM Financial Inc’s bank account in early September and stored in his office. Kalair did not respond to The Islamic Globe’s questions about why the metals were not stored at, and transferred through, a bank. On October 4, MCC appointed Joseph Adam as its finance manager and demanded Kalair pay the invoice. Panchbhaya said Adam had worked with the Shari’ah board since 2003 connecting the local scholars with several scholars in Egypt to help verify the Shari’ah basis of the Fatwa governing UM’s Musharakah home finance product and increase its acceptance in the Arab community in the Toronto area. The gold and silver was, according to Kalair, delivered to Adam the same evening in a parking lot near his Islamic clothing and book store. When The Islamic Globe called the phone number for the store, the person who answered the phone said Adam was not there and that the store had been sold and declined to say who bought it or what the new store was. After the delivery, the gold was never seen again, although Panchbhaya believes Adam left it behind in Canada. Shortly before Adam left for Egypt, he delivered the silver to Kalair who passed it to Panchbhaya, who later returned it to GT because, according to Kalair, Adam said: “there’s too many boxes” of silver for him to keep safely whilst travelling. In early December, GT accompanied by the local sheriff went to Adam’s store but were turned away by someone claiming to be the new owner. In the most recent court documents, GT asked for the court to authorize them to enter the store with the assistance of a locksmith but the decision by the court had not yet been made public by the time the newspaper went to press and GT had not responded to questions.
  
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• Ammar 153 days ago
  0 Takbeers
  I don't trust UM financial, as I dealt with them earlier and they failed/deceived me at the last moment after signing the contract and they were not able to come up with the funds… Imagine 4 days before closing and after investing $20000.00 and they kept me in the dark until the last moment by promising me that everything is alright.. I do NOT recommend or trust UM financial.
  
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• Bilal Mongra 160 days ago
  0 Takbeers
  The problem is UM has a very bad reputation, especially after their 'Islamic Mortgage' fiasco. Also, majority muslims will only switch to "Islamic finance" if it is the cheaper option.
  
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  • penner 153 days ago
    0 Takbeers
    not true. people would switch even if it was slighlty expensive for principles.
    
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