Path Solutions was established in 1992 by a Kuwaiti Shareholding Company and is now owned by a group of investors. The majority share is Kuwaiti, the remaining portion resides with Lebanese ownership. It is primarily an Islamic banking front-to-back office system supplier. Although its users were initially mainly in Kuwait and Bahrain, this has changed with takers in other countries in the Middle East, plus moves into Africa, Asia Pacific and Europe. From an initial staff of four, the company has grown many
times over. Head office is in Kuwait but a full service office opened in Beirut in October 2000, with a network linking all the regions of Lebanon. In October 2003, the Bahrain office opened its doors, dedicated to sales and marketing for the region, as well as offering technical support for the company’s Bahrain clients. Other offices around the world have followed. iMAL (i stands for Islamic, and MAL for money in Arabic) is for Islamic banking and investment and represents the company’s flagship solution. Path’s Islamic banking suite is a
fairly comprehensive combination of modules that interact or work as standalone applications. The core is iMAL Accounting. All modules within the Islamic systems were designed and developed on the basis and principles of Shari’ah, in this case mainly murabaha, musawamah, and ijara. In 2008, all iMAL products were certified by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) as fully compliant with Shari’ah principles. It was the first system to achieve this accreditation and the certificate featured prominently on Path’s website, in marketing campaigns and sales pitches. AAOIFI standards are mandatory for Islamic financial institutions in a number of countries in the Middle East.
However, in September 2013, the accreditation was
withdrawn following the AAOIFI’s partnership with Ernst & Young and the subsequent change of the accreditation process. Path voiced concerns about the new process and its costs. However, a spokesperson for the vendor stated that ‘what has been certified is certified’.
