Islamic Finance and Economics

OIC, Iran Push Sharia Finance in West Africa

August 03, 2016

The Saudi Arabia-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's financial institutions are making a strong push for the expansion of sharia-compatible/compliant financial markets in West Africa, as OIC member Iran moves aggressively to position the country as a key player in sovereign Islamic bond (sukuk) finance on the African Continent.
Sharia Finance Investors Eye Italian Markets

July 26, 2016

Islamic finance investors aiming to diversify in European markets are reaching out to Italian financial experts to explore sharia-compliant changes to Italy's financial regulatory structures, part of a larger discussion in Italy about sharia investment as a possible antidote to Italy's economic woes in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the EU.
Brexit Raises Questions About Islamic Finance in London

July 11, 2016

Islamic finance experts are divided over the potentially negative impacts of the UK's vote to leave the EU on capitalization, legislation, and expertise to support London's aspirations to become the world's leading sharia-finance center in the West.
China, OIC Cooperate on New Silk Road Initiative

June 16, 2016

China's collaboration with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to secure sharia financing for the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative will alter the geopolitical balance of power in Eurasia by integrating the world's sharia finance hubs into the trade and commercial activities of 60 countries comprising over 60% of the world’s population.
OIC Plans Strategic Expansion of Sharia Trade and Finance Activities

June 15, 2016

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is planning an aggressive, globalized expansion of its mandate to promote trade among its 57 member states using the Islamic Development Bank and the Islamic Trade Finance Corporation to promote more than $7 billion in sharia-compliant financing.
UN Partners with Islamic Bank on Development Finance

March 29, 2016

The UN, the World Bank Group, and the Islamic Development Bank, which was founded by members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation ("OIC") to fund development projects in accordance with sharia law, are partnering on an initiative to fund jobs and economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa.
UK Rush to Become Islamic Finance Capital Leads to Sharia Restrictions on Government Buildings

March 09, 2016

Five major British government buildings are now run according to sharia law restrictions under conditions imposed by the Islamic finance investors who control that real estate, an example of the consequences of the massive influx of Muslim investors in British sharia bonds resulting from the aggressive move by Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron to make London into "a great capital of Islamic finance."
British Government Building Financed by Sharia Bonds Cannot Serve Alcohol

February 01, 2016

Building renovations requiring the temporary relocation of Britain's House of Commons to another government building that is financed by sharia bonds reveals a consequence of Islamic finance in the form of a ban on alcohol sales, prohibited under sharia law, in a British government building.
Saudi Aramco IPO Will Change the Face of the Global Islamic Finance Industry

January 12, 2016

Officials from Saudi Arabia's ruling monarchy have announced the start of an aggressive privatization of state assets, beginning with an Initial Public Offering ("IPO") of the global energy and gas colossus Saudi Aramco, a move that will completely alter the size and impact of the global Islamic finance industry by increasing assets from current estimates of $1.6-$2.1 trillion to a potential valuation of $10 trillion.
Sharia Finance Comes to Fast-Growth US Agri-Tech Industry

December 29, 2015

Sharia-compliant investment and financing instruments are coming to the US agri-tech industry, as global Islamist investors are looking to enter the fastest growth sector in innovative, sustainable agriculture and farming worldwide.