Bill
03-07-2008, 03:33 AM
Here's another slap in the face to america from the middle east.
The Sovereigns are moving their money to london. It's expected to end up being 4 trillion.
Sucks to be the US.
It's a shame the rank and file rpublicans aren't smart enough to even understand what this is about, much less what it means.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23505646/
Islamic banks give London world financial clout
Leading western city with institutions that follow religious law in investing
The British government will decide next week if it will issue a sovereign Islamic bond, or sukuk, a new avenue into a market that's estimated to eventually reach $4 trillion by Standard & Poor's.
"It will further underline London as an international Islamic financial center," said Humphrey Percy, the chief executive of the Bank of London and the Middle East, one of four Islamic banks in the British capital.
"It will be the first hard currency, highly rated, government sukuk to be issued. These are all milestones," Percy said at BLME's headquarters in the capital's financial district, where the bank opened for business just six months ago.
Islamic financing is increasingly seen as a key support to London's reputation as a financial center, which took a beating recently due to the failure of Northern Rock PLC and criticism of proposals to raise taxes on wealthy expatriates living here.
"Islamic finance is a tool that the government realizes it has in its hand, which it can utilize to re-establish some clear blue water between themselves and Wall Street," said David Testa, chief executive officer of Gatehouse Capital PLC. Gatehouse is expecting to receive its license to become the fifth standalone Islamic bank in London within weeks.
As the fallout from the U.S. credit crisis continues to take its toll on banking, interest is rising on banking which conforms to Shariah, or Islamic law. It forbids interest and requires deals to be based on tangible assets, which have provided some insulation from credit turbulence.
Shariah compliant products attempt to replicate the concept of interest through cost-plus transactions, leasing arrangements or by linking payments to returns on underlying assets. The process is normally blessed by a board of religious scholars affiliated with a bank.
While more than two-thirds of Islamic finance business is currently originated in the Middle East, the region is increasingly looking to international capital markets to finance the grander development projects. A $1.5 billion sukuk issue from Dubai Ports World and arranged by London-based Barclays Capital last year allocated 60 percent of its bonds to Western buyers.
A British government sukuk — which could be announced in next week's annual budget — would increase liquidity in the market and expand the secondary commercial market in the takaful, or Islamic insurance, sector.
The Sovereigns are moving their money to london. It's expected to end up being 4 trillion.
Sucks to be the US.
It's a shame the rank and file rpublicans aren't smart enough to even understand what this is about, much less what it means.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23505646/
Islamic banks give London world financial clout
Leading western city with institutions that follow religious law in investing
The British government will decide next week if it will issue a sovereign Islamic bond, or sukuk, a new avenue into a market that's estimated to eventually reach $4 trillion by Standard & Poor's.
"It will further underline London as an international Islamic financial center," said Humphrey Percy, the chief executive of the Bank of London and the Middle East, one of four Islamic banks in the British capital.
"It will be the first hard currency, highly rated, government sukuk to be issued. These are all milestones," Percy said at BLME's headquarters in the capital's financial district, where the bank opened for business just six months ago.
Islamic financing is increasingly seen as a key support to London's reputation as a financial center, which took a beating recently due to the failure of Northern Rock PLC and criticism of proposals to raise taxes on wealthy expatriates living here.
"Islamic finance is a tool that the government realizes it has in its hand, which it can utilize to re-establish some clear blue water between themselves and Wall Street," said David Testa, chief executive officer of Gatehouse Capital PLC. Gatehouse is expecting to receive its license to become the fifth standalone Islamic bank in London within weeks.
As the fallout from the U.S. credit crisis continues to take its toll on banking, interest is rising on banking which conforms to Shariah, or Islamic law. It forbids interest and requires deals to be based on tangible assets, which have provided some insulation from credit turbulence.
Shariah compliant products attempt to replicate the concept of interest through cost-plus transactions, leasing arrangements or by linking payments to returns on underlying assets. The process is normally blessed by a board of religious scholars affiliated with a bank.
While more than two-thirds of Islamic finance business is currently originated in the Middle East, the region is increasingly looking to international capital markets to finance the grander development projects. A $1.5 billion sukuk issue from Dubai Ports World and arranged by London-based Barclays Capital last year allocated 60 percent of its bonds to Western buyers.
A British government sukuk — which could be announced in next week's annual budget — would increase liquidity in the market and expand the secondary commercial market in the takaful, or Islamic insurance, sector.