Bahrain-based fintech startup SITR Compliance Technology has launched a platform designed to help Islamic banks monitor Shariah compliance across transactions in real time to improve oversight of Islamic financial products.
The company announced the launch of its operations at Gateway Gulf 2026, an investment forum hosted by the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) in Manama on November 1 and 2.
SITR is an early-stage regulatory technology company supported by the EDB.
It has chosen Bahrain as its headquarters, citing the kingdom’s established Islamic finance sector, regulatory framework, and role as home to the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).
SITR’s platform checks executed transactions continuously against the rulings issued by each institution’s Shariah supervisory board. It provides audit teams visibility across all transactions, rather than selected samples.
Traditional internal Shariah audits often take place after transactions have been completed and examine only a portion of activity.
This can leave errors undetected. SITR says its system can flag problems, including incorrect execution sequences, missing documentation, and changes to core banking parameters that could result in income from non-compliant transactions.
Such findings can require banks to purify non-compliant income and expose them to regulatory and reputational risks.
The platform is intended to identify potential issues earlier, giving institutions an opportunity to investigate and address them.
Founder and chief executive Yousuf Tyabji said Islamic finance had become a global industry, but much of the work involved in verifying Shariah compliance continued to be conducted retrospectively and on a sample basis.
Automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning were increasingly used across industries, while Shariah compliance processes remained largely manual, he said.
The platform is designed around the Central Bank of Bahrain’s Shariah governance requirements and AAOIFI standards. SITR said it is aligned with ISO/IEC 27001 information security practices. It is intended to support, rather than replace, internal Shariah audits and independent external Shariah auditors.
The technology is designed to integrate with banks’ existing systems without changing how transactions are processed. It connects to core banking systems through read-only integrations outside the transaction execution path.
It can also process contracts and supporting documents in formats already used by institutions, including scanned PDF files.
This solution is intended to reduce disruption for banks with different technology and record-keeping systems. SITR said it developed the platform through engagement with Shariah audit and compliance teams at Islamic financial institutions in Bahrain.
The company is targeting Islamic banks across retail, commercial, and wholesale banking, as well as investment funds, exchange-traded funds, brokerages, and consumer finance providers. Its coverage includes products such as Murabaha, Tawarruq, and Ijarah, alongside Musharaka, Mudaraba, Wakala, and Sukuk.
From Manama, SITR plans to serve financial institutions in Bahrain and across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It also intends to expand its workforce by recruiting Bahraini professionals in business development, operations, and product roles.
Musab Abdullah, executive director of business development for information and communications technology at Bahrain EDB, said the company’s decision to establish its headquarters in the kingdom reflected its business environment, regulatory framework, and growing technology ecosystem. He said the focus on real-time Shariah compliance highlighted opportunities to develop digital solutions for Islamic finance.
Bahrain is seeking to strengthen its position as a regional Islamic finance and fintech center. The presence of AAOIFI, which develops accounting, auditing, governance, and Shariah standards for the industry, gives the kingdom an established institutional base.
The Central Bank of Bahrain also has a framework governing Shariah-compliant financial institutions.
For SITR, the opportunity lies in selling technology to institutions that need to demonstrate compliance across large transaction volumes. Its platform does not make religious rulings: those remain the responsibility of each institution’s Shariah supervisory board.
Instead, it checks whether transactions have been carried out in accordance with the board’s decisions.
SITR is registered with Bahrain’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce and was reported to be completing the final stage of its commercial licensing process.
Its ability to convert interest from local institutions into deployments, while meeting regulatory and security requirements across the Gulf and other regional markets, will be central to its expansion.