Likely beginning by June 2009, Islamic banks will be authorized to open in France. Experts expect three banks will be shari’ah compliant – the Qatar Islamic Bank already established in London, the Kuwait Finance House, and the Al-Baraka Islamic Bank from Bahreïn. According to a study undertaken in May 2008, 500,000 Muslims in France are…
With the Sharia-compliant market growing by up to 15 per cent a year and estimated to be worth a trillion dollars (Dh3.67tn) by 2010, the number of Islamic investment banks in the UK is predicted to double within five years, said Samer Merhi, the executive director of the Gatehouse Bank, an Islamic finance house based…
The religion-based system’s attitude to risk stands it in good stead compared to Western banks. Islamic finance is set to be a big winner in the current financial crisis, BDO Stoy Hayward said today. The financial advisor claimed that the religion-based system retains large amounts of money available to borrowers. This is in contrast to…
International investment services compliant with Islamic financial law are competing for a slice of the oil revenue in the Middle East. With the price of crude oil almost doubling in the last year, countries with large Muslim populations and connections – including Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Birmingham and Paris – are vying to act as…
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…
