Latest news with #non-Sharia
Arab News
05-05-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Fintech founder describes journey in shaping Saudi finance
Adel Alateeq, co-founder and CEO of Awaed, reflected on a career that has witnessed the evolution of Saudi Arabia's investment landscape. In a discussion with The Majlis podcast produced in partnership with Arab News, Alateeq described his career path from traditional finance to fintech startup cofounder. Alateeq's early roles involved managing public equity funds, an area significantly affected by Saudi Arabia's market crash in February 2006. 'The market was booming, a lot of Saudis were participating in the Saudi markets,' he said. 'But, then, all of a sudden, came February 2006, a crash happens, and a lot of people lost trust, lost money, a lot of money in the market, and then they started looking for other things, and they started deserting the local markets.' The financial turmoil, coupled with the 2008 global financial crisis, highlighted the vulnerability of relying solely on public equities and spurred a search for alternative investments. This led Alateeq to work on the first real estate investment trust in Saudi Arabia with Riyad Capital, a project initiated around 2008 and eventually launched in 2016. Simultaneously, he championed the development of a venture capital fund with Riyad Capital. Discussions began in 2012, but it took four years to convince investors, primarily due to skepticism about the potential for startups in Saudi Arabia at the time. 'We started talking about the fund back in 2012. We only launched in 2016,' Alateeq said. 'It took us four years to convince investors, and to fundraise for our first VC fund, because a lot of investors did not believe that there would be startups coming out of Saudi.' Not long afterwards, Alateeq was tapped by the Public Investment Fund to join Jada Fund of Funds, founded in 2018. He said the mandate was to 'catalyze the private equity and venture capital industry' in Saudi Arabia. Despite the challenges of building a team remotely during the global pandemic, Jada achieved its five-year key performance indicators within just three years. Speaking about his move to establish the Awaed digital wealth management platform, Alateeq said: 'Entrepreneurship is part of me. I've always wanted to do something on my own, to have the freedom to do creative things out of the boundaries of large organizations.' Alateeq believes that Saudi retail clients are 'underserved' by existing players who struggle to reach them effectively. He challenges the notion that Saudis lack financial literacy, arguing that the key issue is one of 'access, not knowledge.' In line with the unique aspects of the Saudi market, Awaed allows users to screen out non-Sharia compliant investment options. Reflecting on the Saudi banking and investment sector, Alateeq said that its profitability can lead to complacency and a lack of innovation among many established players. 'The market is hungry,' he said. 'There's so much to do. But because of that, creativity is not at its best.' Alateeq is optimistic about the country's reforms under Vision 2030. 'I think today, the transformation that Saudi is going through is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,' he said.
The National
14-02-2025
- Business
- The National
More than 140 couples expected to tie the knot at Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court for Valentine's Day
More than 36,000 weddings involving non-Emiratis have been carried out at the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court since it opened in late 2021, with many couples requesting to tie the knot on Friday – Valentine's Day. The court has processed an average of 70 weddings a day, about 12 applications an hour. Officials are expecting Friday to be even busier than Valentine's Day last year, when 143 marriages took place at the civil court. One who will be getting married on Friday is Diksha Dilip Sahare, 30, a nurse from India, who is marrying her fiance Hitesh Ashok Patil at the court. 'Ever since I was a child, I always said that I was going to get married on Valentine's. Every Valentine's my friends would joke if this would be the day I would get married," she said. "I just think it is the most romantic thing in the world and when I got engaged, that was one of my conditions – that we get married on Valentine's Day. Hitesh has fulfilled my dream." She is only one of many people in the UAE hoping to get married on what is widely regarded as the most romantic day of the year, according to one expert. "Around Valentine's Day, we observe a significant increase in couples eager to marry on the symbolic date of February 14," said Florian Ughetto, manager of Easy Wedding, who founded the company with his wife after facing difficulties finding someone to help organise their own wedding. The increased interest in getting married at the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court is a reflection on the emirate's status as an attractive location for couples, both based here and from afar, seeking a civil wedding, said a senior official. "This approach demonstrates Abu Dhabi's commitment to accommodating individuals from different nationalities and cultures, while enhancing its competitiveness and appeal in attracting top talent and skilled professionals," said Yousef Saeed Al Abri, undersecretary of the Judicial Department. "This is reinforced by modern laws that uphold cultural diversity and foster a well-structured, inclusive legal environment tailored to the needs of foreign residents." The court in Abu Dhabi has already captured the imagination of couples from across the world, including celebrities. Lebanese actress Sara Abi Kanaan married her actor husband Wissam Fares at the venue last year. The court was established in 2021 to hear all cases governed under a non-Sharia process. The court was launched with the aim of bringing the emirate into line with international legal practices. The increase in demand for civil weddings in Abu Dhabi reflects wide-scale changes in how couples, both in the region and from further afield, approach married life, according to a leading lawyer in the sector. Shabana Saleem, senior associate family barrister, said she has noted a 30 per cent rise in enquiries over the past two weeks, including specific requests for a civil marriage appointment on Valentine's Day, and also from couples looking for information on pre-nuptial and post-nuptial. While pre-nuptial agreements where couples agree on financial and other terms before marriage are well documented, the post-nuptial agreement is less common. As the name suggests, it is a contract agreed on after the wedding has taken place, when both spouses agree on financial terms in the event of a divorce. While both pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements are not new concepts, they were less associated with the Middle East region than other parts of the world. However that is changing, Ms Saleem says. "In the last week alone, I've had significant inquiries from couples getting married within the next 14 days," she said. "Pre-nups or marriage agreements are no longer about protecting wealth, they're about safeguarding the emotional and financial well-being of both partners. 'The heart of a pre-nup is essentially to give a couple the chance to have candid discussions about critical issues such as finances, children and the path forward if there is a divorce,' she said. "This becomes particularly important for expat families who face added layers of uncertainty.'
