Qardus

Qardus is a UK platform that arranges Sharia-compliant SME financing under independent Sharia oversight, marketed to investors seeking faith-aligned, fixed-return opportunities. The legal entity is Qardus Limited.

Regulatory status: Qardus is not authorised or regulated by the FCA for regulated investment business, and has announced a wind-down of its FCA-regulated arranging activity. The platform itself carries a disclaimer that its promotional content has not been approved by an authorised person under FSMA. Investors do not benefit from FSCS compensation or FOS recourse on these products.

Qardus presents itself as a marketplace for Sharia-compliant SME finance. Onboarding is reported to involve KYC and suitability/affordability assessments and is generally open to UK residents aged 18+ with a UK bank account [unverified]. Investor capital is deployed into financing facilities; borrowing SMEs repay in instalments under the underlying contracts, and investors receive principal and returns per the contract terms.

So what this means: absent FCA authorisation, none of these processes (KYC, suitability, segregation, conduct standards) sit under FCA supervision — the protections you'd normally expect from a regulated P2P or investment platform do not apply.

Product: Sharia-compliant SME financing, described in independent reviews as commodity Murabaha-style facilities for working capital. Minimum investment reported at £100. Third-party reviews of historic offers have quoted returns in the c.10–15% range — these are historic / illustrative and not guaranteed.

Fees: the platform's own messaging suggests investor-facing fees are minimal or none and that fees are charged to borrowing SMEs; however, forum posts have alleged material transaction fees in the value chain (one Reddit user cited "10%"). This contradiction should be resolved against the live fee schedule.

Liquidity: no secondary market reported — expect to hold to maturity. AUM is not publicly disclosed.

Aimed at investors seeking Sharia-compliant, fixed-return exposure to UK SME financing, and at SMEs looking for faith-aligned working capital. Third-party reviewers characterise the opportunities as higher-risk and often suggest small portfolio allocations (e.g. 10–30% where used).

Key considerations: no FCA protection, illiquidity (no secondary market), and ongoing scholarly debate over certain structures (e.g. Murabaha) — investors seeking strict Sharia rulings should review the platform's Sharia board statements and seek independent guidance.