Is Braskem (BAK) stock Halal?

Braskem represents American Depositary Receipts for Braskem a leading global petrochemical company headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. Braskem stands as the largest petrochemical operation in Latin America and is among Brazil’s top private industrial enterprises. The company specializes in the manufacture and sale of a broad spectrum of chemicals, fuels, and thermoplastic resins, including polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride, essential to industries such as packaging, automotive, construction, and consumer goods. For Muslim investors, though, the most pressing question is simpler: is Braskem a Halal investment?

Is Braskem Shariah compliant?

No. In the October 2026 screening Braskem (BAK) does not pass AAOIFI screening: it fails the interest-bearing debt and preference share screens. Extracting and selling oil, gas or materials is a permissible business, so companies like Braskem rarely stumble on the activity screen. The pressure point is capital structure: energy is a capital hungry industry that borrows heavily, and AAOIFI Shariah Standard No. 21 caps interest bearing debt at 30% of market capitalisation, a line that moves as commodity cycles move the share price.

Does Braskem pass the business activity test?

The activity screen is only part of the picture this month: Braskem currently fails the interest-bearing debt and preference share screens, so the overall verdict is not compliant regardless of the business itself. The activity itself, extracting and selling resources, raises no Shariah objection; the scrutiny belongs to the financing.

Is Braskem's income Halal?

Yes, within AAOIFI's tolerance. Braskem's income from non-permissible sources stays below 5% of revenue in the October 2026 screening.

Does Braskem meet AAOIFI's debt and investment ratio requirements?

Not in full. Interest bearing debt currently exceeds the 30% cap, measured against a market capitalisation of $328M (market data as of 1 October 2026), while the other ratio stays within it. One breach is enough to fail the screening; the ratios are reassessed monthly under our Shariah Supervisory Board. Braskem also fails the preference share screen this month.

Why do other halal screeners show a different verdict for Braskem?

Screeners can disagree without either being wrong. AAOIFI Shariah Standard No. 21, which Tabadulat applies, measures interest bearing debt and investments against market capitalisation with a 30% ceiling. MSCI and FTSE measure them against total assets with a 33% ceiling, and S&P and Dow Jones Islamic use a multi year average of market capitalisation. Data dates differ too, because each provider reads filings and prices on its own schedule. The same company can therefore pass one standard and fail another in the same month. Tabadulat publishes one answer, the AAOIFI result as of October 2026, and re-screens it every month.

Tabadulat is an ADGM regulated brokerage whose license covers Shari'a Compliant Regulated Activities, as the FSRA permission names them. New to the terminology? Gharar and Maysir, Sukuk, Zakat and purification are all explained in plain English.

New to the screening method? Read AAOIFI Standards Explained: What Makes a Stock Halal?