Team size: 15

Key team members: Randi Ikhlas Sardoni, Iqbal Saksono, Wibowo Budihananto

Major legal advisers: Withers KhattarWong, S&N Partnership

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

We are proud to be part of our group company’s journey; Hijra (previously ALAMI) claimed the status as the world’s largest Sharia-compliant SME lending platform-turned Islamic challenger bank. It currently has more than 139,000 funders, has financed 12,000 projects across nations, and disbursed more than US$339m.

In 2021, ALAMI acquired the only Islamic rural bank in Jakarta and transformed it digitally to become Hijra Bank where it allows millions of underserved Muslims to have more committed Digital Apps to fulfill their banking needs. Currently, Hijra recorded more than 235.000 bank accounts & retail lenders since the launch of the banking app in December 2022.

Based on the above achievements, the legal and compliance division has played a critical role in spearheading the acquisition project to navigate the complexities of regulatory compliance, and was instrumental in obtaining a license from Bank Indonesia and securing the landmark achievement for the industry in 2022. This license allowed Hijra Bank to become a payment service provider which enabled the bank to launch a mobile banking application launched in December 2022. This is a landmark achievement as the other fintech competitors still had difficulties in obtaining the license and, if not, requires more than a year to obtain such a license.

Further, the legal and compliance division also spearheaded two successful fundraising initiatives, the Pre-B fundraise in October 2022, and the recent fundraise in July 2023 by providing direct advice to stakeholders, guiding and advising on the legal implications of regulatory rules without the support of external local counsel. The team took the lead in finalizing a structure arrangement to balance both Hijra and investors key compliance principles as well sharia compliance aspect that makes the transaction unique by its nature.

Can you sum up the team culture or ethos?

Our team culture and ethos are deeply rooted in promoting a mindset of thinking outside the box while also adhering to a “play within the box” approach. We place a strong emphasis on maintaining a sharia-driven culture, which guides our actions and decisions.

Despite our team’s size of 15 individuals across multiple entities, we’ve successfully fostered a sense of togetherness. We not only work together but also pray together, emphasizing the importance of unity and shared values. Furthermore, our ability to maintain a hybrid working environment showcases our commitment to flexibility and adapting to the changing needs of our team members and entities.

Apart from legal matters, has the team worked on other company initiatives?

The division safeguards the company’s business though several pillars, including compliance, anti-money laundering, and sharia compliance.

Does your team make use of interesting tech solutions to streamline its workload?

Yes, our team leverages productivity tools to streamline our workload. We use these tools to efficiently manage ticketing and monitor requests until they are delivered to our internal clients. Upon implementation of these tools, we can provide more transparency to our internal client that ultimately increase productivity.