Sharia Compliance Manager/Assistant Manager - Sharia

United Arab Bank; Sharjah; On-site; AED 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dedicated Sharia Compliance Officer to oversee the adherence to Islamic banking regulations. In this pivotal role, you will ensure compliance with Sharia Governance Standards and UAE laws while promoting a culture of Sharia compliance within the organization. You will be responsible for conducting thorough reviews of banking activities, preparing comprehensive reports for senior management, and developing strategies to mitigate compliance risks. This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the integrity of Islamic banking practices in a dynamic financial environment.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of experience in Sharia functions.
• Strong knowledge of Islamic finance regulations and banking products.

Responsibilities

• Monitor compliance with Sharia Governance Standards and UAE Law.
• Conduct Sharia compliance reviews and prepare reports for management.

Skills

Sharia Compliance

Islamic Finance Regulations

Report Presentation

Stakeholder Engagement

Arabic Language Proficiency

Education

University Degree in Sharia

Professional Certificate in Islamic Banking

Job description

Job Purpose

• Job is regulatory position to supervise the continuous monitoring of UAB Islamic Banking businesses and activities compliance with resolutions, fatwas, regulations and standards issued by CBUAE-HSA and ISSC.
• To ensure compliance with Sharia Governance Standards, UAE Law No. 14 of 2018, ISSC resolutions, AAOIFI Shariah Standards, other Sharia standards (enforced by the CBUAE-HSA) and other relevant regulatory guidelines for Islamic banking.

Principal Accountabilities

• Monitor the regulatory requirements to ensure reviewing of all existing documents, contracts, products, manuals, marketing material, policies & procedures, processes, and all other documents from Sharia aspects.
• To ensure that the Sharia compliance review on overall UAB Islamic Banking activities and Sharia non-compliance observations is timely communicated to the Senior Management, ISSC, Board Committee and ensure that the most significant issues are regularized by respective action owners.
• To follow up the implementation of (and adherence to) any new HSA resolutions including the preparation of gap analysis.
• To conduct Sharia compliance review as per SCF Standard & Guidance Note.
• Recommend the remedial actions and appropriate changes on the existing controls, mitigates Sharia non-compliance risks on overall UAB Islamic Banking businesses and activities in order to improve the effectiveness on the existing control design.
• To work for promoting and cultivating Sharia compliance culture in the Bank and improve the Sharia compliance staff awareness across the Bank.
• To ensure that the Bank maintain an acceptable levels of Sharia compliance awareness through regular training.
• To assist the Senior Management in reporting to the Board regarding the Bank's compliance with Sharia in all of its activities, operations, policies, internal regulations, and code of conduct.
• To assist the ISSC in ensuring the extent of the Bank's compliance with Sharia.
• To prepare and submit Sharia compliance report to the ISSC to look at the technical Shari'ah related matters prior to submitting the same to the Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Executive Officer.
• To conduct reviews and evaluate the Shari'ah Non-Compliance controls and their applications, issue reports on the same and monitor remedial actions to ensure that Shari'ah compliance controls are adequate and operate as intended.
• To develop internal procedures and policies regarding Sharia control function review exercises that should include Develop an Annual Plan, Planning and Scoping of the review, conduct a Field Review, Documenting Issues & Actions, Draft Reports, and Monitor Progress.
• To develop the annual review plan which must be approved by the ISSC and the Board.
• To set a planning and scoping of the review process which involves gathering information from the business or function under review, allowing development of the scope, objectives and approach to the review, and determining the planned review procedures.
• To conduct a field review for the Bank that consists of procedures built on robust methodology basis.
• To record each identified finding/incident in the report that follows every field review. The identified issues must be factual, accurate, precise, objective, clear, concise, complete and supported with adequate evidence that demonstrates the accuracy and factuality of the identified finding, determination of the Sharia or governance or other documents and the relevant paragraphs from which deviation has occurred, if applicable, such as, but not limited to specific Regulatory Requirements, ISSC's Resolutions, or the Products Manual, specification of the root cause that has triggered the identified finding, establishment of a clear action plan that adequately addresses the root cause and closes the gap, and specification of the party responsible for the action plan, specification of risk rating of the identified incident according to the approved risk matrix of the IFI which is prepared by risk management department.
• To record the issues of the field review in a report that shall be developed through robust procedures before dissemination.
• To disseminate the report to the CEO and the relevant parties after being approved by the ISSC and to ensure the implementation of its contents within the period specified by the ISSC in the final report.
• To monitor progress updates provided by the relevant parties and monitor the implementation of the action plan.
• All the above responsibilities are in addition to any additional/new tasks or responsibilities assigned by the Head of Sharia Control Department.

Qualifications & Experience

• University degree in Sharia, or relevant specializations
• Professional certificate in Sharia and Islamic Banking Control from one of the organizations that supports Islamic Finance like the Accounting and Auditing Organization for IFIs (AAOIFI) and the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI)
• Minimum 5 years of experience in Sharia functions
• Strong knowledge of Islamic finance regulations
• Strong knowledge of Islamic banking product structures adopted by Corporate, Retail, Investment & Treasury Banking.
• Exposure in making and presenting reports to Board-level committee
• Exposure in dealing with different stakeholders and challenging opinions
• Strong command of English and reasonable command of Arabic