UK Islamic Banks are expanding services to cater for London based property financing demand. QIB UK, part of the Qatar Islamic Bank group, and Al Rayan bank a UK subsidiary of Qatar based Masraf Al Rayan have both recently expanded offices and services to meet demand. QIB Begins offering Murabaha Facilities QIB-UK, has begun providing Sharia-compliant Murabaha Facilities for London properties. The... »
5 March 2018 leading luminaries from Islamic finance gathered at the London stock exchange. Dr Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank highlighted the need for London with its world class financial services expertise to be at the heart of the “Islamic finance revolution” and for it to leverage its global marketplace to help realise the potential of Islamic finance. »
Securitization of Sharia-compliant home purchase plans On 22 February, UK-based Al Rayan Bank PLC (ARB, Aa3 negative, baa21) issued the UK’s first asset-backed Sukuk through a special-purpose vehicle, Tolkien Funding Sukuk No. 1. The issuance, a £250 million securitization of Sharia-compliant home purchase plans (HPPs), widens the issuer base for Sukuk outside the core Islamic markets of Gulf Coo... »
Islamic Finance Week in Review – 24 Feb 2018 Corporate Sukuk Market The sovereign and corporate sukuk market surged this week, with the stand out corporate issuance coming from Turkey where Al Baraka Turk’s issued a first for Turkey with a Tier 1 perpetual Sukuk facility which is also the first Basel III-compliant publicly-listed Tier 1 issuance. The profit rate was 10%. In Oman, Golden Grou... »
Bashar Al Natoor, Global Head of Islamic Finance at Fitch Rating looks at the historical evolution of Islamic Finance in the UK. Mr Al Natoor highlights the central role the UK plays in the global Islamic finance industry covering three areas. Firstly the role of English law in underpinning global sukuk contracts and Islamic financial contracts, secondly the London Stock Exchange being a global hu... »
The Shariah-compliant refinancing of high value office accommodation in Aberdeen has been completed using a commodity Murabaha structure. Gatehouse Bank, a wholesale Shariah-compliant investment bank based in London, advised Youngberry on the investment and financing aspects of the deal. The funding was completed by way of a commodity murabaha facility from an established international bank. A mur... »
Central Bank Looking to Implement Fund Based Deposit Shari’ah compliant liquidity facilities Consultation paper looks at establishing a fund based deposit facility for UK Islamic Financial institutions. The work to develop a Shari’ah compliant facility commenced in the second half of 2015, and is part of the Bank’s more general approach to broadening market access to central bank liquidity facilit... »
London is established as the leading western centre for Islamic finance and has been at forefront of key developments in Europe. »
Off Market UK Islamic Finance Transaction An iconic House of Fraser building in Cardiff, Wales has been acquired in an off-market purchase by Rosette Merchant Bank in partnership with Naissance Capital Real Estate from M&G Real Estate for £37m. The purchase was made on behalf of Middle Eastern investors. Rosette’s Chief Executive, Oliver Wynne-James said, “This deal demonstrates the ongoing ap... »
UK Report Looks at Faith Based Finance Public Faith and Finance – Faith responses to the financial crisis is a report recently published by the University of Bristol and supported by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, and Public Spirit which looks at faith-based responses to the financial crisis. Many references to Islamic finance as well as Christian finance are made throughout the report as part of... »
