Following on from KT Bank opening the first retail Islamic bank in Germany, Peter Kruschel, director of banking supervision at the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, discussed Germany’s interest in Islamic banking in an interview with Bloomberg at the Global Islamic Finance forum held in Kuala Lumpur recently.

He stated Germany is aware of the potential of the Islamic banking sector though at the moment no regulatory framework is currently in place to support transactions in compliance with Islamic finance transactions. He added Germany’s non-Muslim population may be interested in the products offered by Islamic banks, and that tax and central bank policies will need to be put in place to assist in the development of the industry.