As Islamic finance and banking products continue to grow, Switzerland will soon get its second Shariah compliant bank in less than two years. The bank I set to be launched before the end of the year, and will target investors and wealthy individuals from the Gulf region. The new bank will be the second private Islamic bank established in Switzerland; the first Shariah complaint bank – Faisal Private Bank – opened in Geneva in 2006. Among the principals advocated by Shariah banking institutions include the forbidding of Muslims from usury, receiving, or paying interest on loans, and Islamic bankers and finance institutions cannot receive private funds for transactions involving alcohol, gambling, pornography, tobacco, weapons, or pork.
