EQRAZ Inc. launches halal home mortgages across several Canadian provinces

TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2023 /CNW/ - EQRAZ Inc., a Toronto-based Islamic financial services start-up, announced today the launch of its Shariah-compliant mortgage business for Canada's fast-growing 1.8 million Muslim population.  

EQRAZ' entire business, including products, policies, and procedures are Shariah-certified under AAOIFI standards by Bahrain-based Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB), who will also be supervising and auditing the company's offerings and operations in accordance with Shariah and AAOIFI standards.

EQRAZ is launching with CAD $25M in funding, secured through a Shariah-compliant "wakala" financing agreement with a Schedule 1 Canadian Bank, with a plan to increase to CAD $200M by September 2023. In addition, EQRAZ is also in discussions with several Canadian and US-based institutional investors and is committed to raising CAD $1B in funding within the next 18–24 months. Currently, EQRAZ is issuing mortgages in ON, MB, AB, and BC, and expects to launch in NS, NB, PE and NL by March 2023.

According to Syed Zuhair Naqvi, Founder & CEO of EQRAZ, "It has taken us four long years to overcome the numerous challenges facing halal mortgage offerings in Canada which prevented at-scale financing from being available.  The biggest challenge we faced was to develop a halal product that does not conflict with Canadian tax, disclosure and other regulations, and meets with Canadian capital-market requirements. Our product is an up to five-year renewable product which has been tested against all applicable Canadian banking, mortgage, tax and disclosure regulations by both EQRAZ counsel as well as the Schedule 1 bank that is providing halal mortgage funding. EQRAZ' halal mortgage product avoids the regulatory, shariah-compliance, and funding-related problems facing traditional Musharaka and Murabaha products being offered by other firms."

When asked about scalability, Mr. Naqvi commented, "We are proud of our partnership with some of Canada's top players in the industry. All EQRAZ mortgages will be administered by CMLS Financial, one of Canada's most well-respected third-party mortgage administrators with CAD $30 Billion of assets under administration. As such, EQRAZ is immediately equipped to service billions of dollars in mortgages, and can assure Canadian banks, credit unions and other institutional investors that their mortgage financing funds provided to EQRAZ will be professionally and securely managed."

Dan Putnam, Senior Vice-President, CMLS Financial noted, "We are thrilled to support EQRAZ as they bring Shariah-compliant funding to Canada's mortgage industry."

EQRAZ has an exclusive relationship with Canada's largest mortgage broker, Dominion Lending Centre franchise, Forest City Funding. Mr. Trevor Daly, Executive Vice President of DLC-FCF states, "We have seen several Islamic mortgage offerings in Canada over the past years, but we decided to work with EQRAZ based on its significant product design and operating advantages over competitors, including a superior Shariah and Canadian compliant mortgage product and access to at-scale financing that EQRAZ has unlocked."

EQRAZ has integrated with Finastra's Filogix and Newton's Velocity platforms which allows approximately 90% of Canada's mortgage brokers to apply for an EQRAZ halal mortgage on behalf of their customers. While 69% of Canadians own homes, the percentage of Muslim homeowners is much smaller.  Many Canadian Muslims choose to rent to honor their religious beliefs.  EQRAZ believes that Canadian Muslims should have access to a mortgage product that is fully Shariah-compliant, so they can participate in home ownership as easily as other Canadians, in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

The Shariyah Review Bureau, ("SRB"), with its head office in the Kingdom of Bahrain, was founded in 2004. Licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, it has a global footprint as a Shariah reviewer and auditor.

Mr. Moinuddin Malim, EQRAZ Board Member and Chief Shariah Advisor stated, "We intentionally chose one of the strictest and most well-respected Shariah audit and advisory firms to supervise EQRAZ' Shariah-compliance, as we intend to submit ourselves to the highest standards of compliance at all times."

Mr. Yasser S Dahlawi, CEO of SRB, commented, "Our client portfolio has been significantly expanding internationally, and this engagement further demonstrates our dedication to clients like EQRAZ in Canada. We hope to continue to reward our stakeholders with the trust and Shariah assurance they need in the years to come."

ABOUT EQRAZ

EQRAZ provides halal, flexible and affordable home finance.  Unlike a conventional mortgage where the purchaser borrows money from a lender which is then repaid with interest, EQRAZ's halal home financing is based on the Islamic finance principles of Murabaha and Wakala. EQRAZ has developed partnerships with Canada's best-in-class third party mortgage companies, including origination and mortgage closing, reporting and compliance, servicing, and client management. All third-party agreements have been thoroughly vetted and approved to be Shariah and AAOIFI compliant. (AAOIFI is the leading global authority on Shariah compliant financing.). This ensures that clients receive the best industry-standard services and their mortgages are ALWAYS SAFE.

SOURCE EQRAZ

and enquiries on EQRAZ, please contact: Alan McLaren, [email protected]. For all Shariyah Advisory related queries, please contact: Hashim Munir, [email protected]