Chancellor, a UK-based publisher of legal guides, has produced a reference guide for Islamic finance explaining the most important rules of this rapidly expanding area.

The Chancellor Guide to the Legal and Shariah Aspects of Islamic Finance provides information on structuring Shariah compliant financial products and practical advice on dealing with insurance, hedge funds, syndication, trade finance, real estate, wealth management, project finance, derivatives, and private equity.

"There was an important gap in literature on Islamic finance. On one hand, we had purely academic works and on the other hand books written as no more than training notes. This guide is the first of its kind to offer a complete toolkit to those involved in structuring of Islamic financial products," said Dr Humayon Dar, chief executive of BMB Islamic, as subsidiary of BMB Group specialising in Shariah advisory and structuring.

The publication was created with support from Dubai International Finance Centre, BMB Group, Hong Leong Islamic Bank, Path Solutions and Trident Trust.

The Guide is co-edited by Shariah specialist Dr Humayon Dar and Islamic lawyer Umar Moghul.

Cayman-headquartered BMB Group is a global alternative asset management and financial services firm. Its parent company is based in Brunei, with offices in London, New York, Kuala Lumpur and the Middle East.