Zug, Switzerland, April 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Swiss HAQQ Association, Islamic Coin and London based DDCAP GroupTM (DDCAP) have entered into a memorandum of understanding to explore the potential opportunities of working together, utilising DDCAP’s award-winning Shariah compliant financial technology, ETHOS AFP™ (ETHOS), and HAQQ’s digital asset platforms on the HAQQ Blockchain.
The proposed alliance will focus on building industry grade systems and cater to growing market demand for ethics-first, Shariah compliant infrastructure. DDCAP, bringing over 25 years of expertise in sustainable intermediary services and systems to the Islamic financial market, will work closely with the HAQQ team to launch exclusive and ground-breaking solutions for the new Digital Age.
The environmentally friendly and proof-of-stake HAQQ Blockchain that HAQQ Association supervises will play host to a number of solutions for Islamic finance that include a Shariah-compliant Web3 alternative to SWIFT, a digital asset platform, CBDCs, tokenization and other ventures.
“Actively supporting SDGs, both sides appreciate the similarities between the improvements sustainable development is aiming to achieve and the principles of Shariah finance, that focus on fairer, better money,” comments Mohammed AlKaff AlHashmi, HAQQ Association Member and Islamic Coin Сo-founder.
Stella Cox CBE, Managing Director of DDCAP, said “We are delighted to have entered into a partnership with the HAQQ Association to explore potential areas of cooperation in the fast-moving and ever-expanding worlds of Islamic finance and Blockchain, particularly those areas which resonate with our own sustainable and responsible actions programme in support of the UN SDGs”.
The HAQQ Blockchain and its native Islamic Coin token have received worldwide acclaim and recognition. After securing a record $200M from private investors and HNWIs, the HAQQ-Islamic Coin team have secured awards around the globe including the prestigious Most Promising ESG Crypto at The Middle East Blockchain Awards in 2022 and the Golden Excellence Award granted by the UAE Minister of Tolerance, His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan Mabarak Al Nahyan. The founders have presented to international luminaries at the UN’s COP27 and are actively supporting the UN agenda.
The Advisory Board includes members of Abu Dhabi and Dubai Ruling Families, including the grandson of UAE founder Sheikh Dr. Hazza bin Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Navy Chief Sheikh Saeed bin Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (advising in private capacity), Sheikh Khalifa Bin Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Khalifa Bin Mohammad Bin Khalid Al Nahyan, His Highness Sheikh Juma bin Maktoum Al Maktoum and Her Highness Sheikha Mariam Suhail Obaid Suhail Al Maktoum. The team recently launched a $40M fund to support Shariah-compliant ventures on the HAQQ blockchain and is working closely with both the public and private sectors to further its mission, empowering the world’s Muslim community and beyond with a financial instrument for the Digital Age, that enables seamless transactions and interaction, while supporting innovation and philanthropy.
DDCAP is a leading provider of asset facilitation services, financial technology and systems solutions and is a strategic partner for both private and public sector firms and authorities who innovate product and market infrastructure for the development and expansion of the Islamic financial industry. DDCAP was most recently recognised at the 2022 Global Islamic Finance Awards for its Market Leadership (Institution) with ETHOS AFP™ awarded Best Islamic Finance Technology Product. Separately, DDCAP was recognised as Best Interbroker for Islamic transactions at the IFN Awards.
DDCAP is chaired by Lord Spencer of Alresford, who founded NEX Group and ICAP PLC. DDCAP’s Managing Director is Stella Cox CBE, a well-known figure within the Islamic financial markets who was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her services to the UK Economy and to Islamic finance. DDCAP is majority owned by IPGL, the privately owned family office of Lord Spencer. DDCAP is a member of the UK Islamic Finance Council (UKIFC) SDG Global Taskforce, formed under the auspices of HM Treasury in the UK. As part of its partnership with the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI), DDCAP was announced as a member of a strategic group of partners preparing for COP28 in the UAE. The partnership introduced DDCAP as a founder member of the higher-level working group tasked to promote the acceleration of Green and Sustainable Sukuk. Other founder stakeholders include HM Treasury, Ministry of Finance of Indonesia, the IsDB and LSEG/Refinitiv.
About HAQQ Association
HAQQ Association is a Swiss based (non-profit) association. It is funded via donations. It brings together the most reputable actors of the Islamic world in order to promote the community driven decentralized technologies worldwide. One of the most important functions of HAQQ is to supervise further development of HAQQ Blockchain and make sure that development goes in accordance with principles of Islamic finance. Such supervision is conducted by world renowned Shariah Scholars and Islamic finance professors as members of HAQQ’s Shariah Board.
About DDCAP Group™ (DDCAP)
Headquartered in London, DDCAP is a market intermediary and financial technology solutions provider connecting the global Islamic financial market responsibly for over 25 years. DDCAP offers award-winning asset facilitation services and technology to over 300 Islamic financial sector clients worldwide, including banks, non-bank financial institutions, asset managers and fintechs, across a diverse range of responsible and sustainable Shariah-compliant products, asset classes and markets. Outside its London headquarters, DDCAP’s international footprint includes representative offices in the DIFC in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and Bahrain. DDCAP has its own, long-established Shariah Supervisory Board that comprises five, world renowned scholars from the GCC and Southeast Asia. DDCAP became a service provider signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment in 2016 and a stakeholder endorser of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking in 2020.
