R3 and Wethaq Partnership for Digital Sukuk Market Development

R3 entered into a strategic partnership with fintech startup Wethaq from Dubai to create a financial architecture for Islamic capital markets.

Wethaq is a “platform as a service” (PaaS), it seeks to use the R3 Corda blockchain to manage the pre-sale, issue, management and financing of sukuk, Islamic financial certificates similar to bonds. According to the annual report of the International Islamic Financial Market for 2019, the total sukuk output reached $123.15 billion in 2018, which is 5% more compared to $ 116.7 billion in 2017.

The platform will digitize sukuk, reducing both cost and issuance time. Currently, this process includes a number of banks, clearing houses and trustees. Corda will simplify this cycle. In addition, Corda can provide a wide distribution and, consequently, a greater number of issuers and investors, standardizing digital assets with a global financial architecture.

David E. RUTTER, CEO of R3, commented on the partnership:

“Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East region are areas where we see huge potential for Corda to modernize the economy and our partnership with Wethaq is a step towards achieving that.”