This article was first published in the "Global Islamic Finance Report 2012"

in April 2012.

The number of Sharia compliant products that are available has grown enormously over the past few years. Many Islamic finance transactions are governed by English law or the law of another country, instead of Sharia law. Sharia is a set of moral and religious principles rather than a codified body of laws. These types of transactions often take place on a global level, with parties originating from different regions in the world. For example a Swiss bank may launch a Sharia compliant financial product aimed at investors in the Middle East using documentation governed by English law. Due to the diverse backgrounds of the parties involved, the specialist nature of the agreements and the potential variety of legal jurisdictions in play, there may be considerable benefits in having an authoritative common platform to resolve disputes as they arise in a manner that is guided by Sharia within a modern commercial context.