Islamic Finance and Economics

Morocco Still Debating Intro of Islamic Banking

September 04, 2014

Morocco's Parliament continues to hold briefings on a bill to introduce sharia-compliant and sharia-compatible products and services to the country's banking system, with the country's religious leaders and civil society groups taking opposing positions on the need for and implications of Islamic banking.
Malaysia Follows Green Investments Trend in Islamic Finance

September 04, 2014

Malaysia is the latest country to jump on the emerging global trend, in Europe, North America, the Mideast, and Asia, of customizing Islamic (sharia-compliant/compatible) financial products to green causes such as renewable energy and sustainable agriculture.
U.S. Courts Try to Unravel Linkages Between Global Finance and Religious Terrorism

August 20, 2014

As the first civil trial against a bank under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act gets underway in a federal district court trial in Brooklyn, international finance experts are concerned that a finding of liability in a case dealing with global Islamist terrorism could exert a chilling effect on banks doing business in religious-conflict zones.
Kuwait Shift to Islamic Banking Follows Global Trend

August 11, 2014

International financial experts suggest that the hard shift by leading lending institutions in Kuwait toward sharia-compliant/compatible banking points is linked to the growing dominance of Islamic finance in the country, reflecting similar trends in countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council ("GCC") and Southeast Asia.
Dubai Competes to Challenge Malaysia as Global Islamic Finance Capital

August 06, 2014

As the global Islamic finance industry continues to experience robust growth, Dubai continues to pursue an aggressive competitive strategy to supersede Malaysia as the world's leading hub for sharia-compliant/compatible finance.
Saudi Arabia to Open Stock Market to Foreign Investors

July 23, 2014

Officials in Saudi Arabia announced that the country's stock market will be opened in 2015 to investment from foreign financial institutions, an effort aimed at bringing shareholder management and globalization expertise to the Kingdom's notoriously insular financial institutions.
Experts Predict Strong Growth, Globalization of Islamic Finance

July 18, 2014

International financial experts predict that sharia-based economic growth will be especially robust over the next half decade, with "demographics, devotion, and disposable income" fueling the aggressive spread of Islamic finance and banking practices in both Asia and advanced OECD countries.
Harvard's Islamic Finance Project Hosts OIC Speakers

July 14, 2014

Representatives from the global Organization for Islamic Cooperation ("OIC") met in a forum with global finance and Islamic experts convened under Harvard University's Islamic Finance Project to discuss new models of social welfare based on sharia-compliant/compatible insurance.
Mainstreaming Islamic Banking by Rebranding Without "Islamic"

July 11, 2014

Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Saudi Arabia are leading a trial move to mainstream and grow the global footprint of Islamic banking, which relies on sharia-compliant/compatible products and regulations, by rebranding the industry through removal of the term "Islamic" from their institutions in key Western countries.
U.K. Inaugurates Islamic Bond Offering in the West

July 11, 2014

Islamic bonds (“sukuk”) were issued this week by government of the United Kingdom, making good on Prime Minister David Cameron's widely publicized pledge to make London a global capital of Islamic banking and finance and inaugurating the West's first sharia-compliant sovereign bond offering.