UK - TAKAFUL - Gatehouse Bank announces joint venture with Paul Napier

Gatehouse Bank plc, a wholesale Shariah investment Bank in London, has announced a joint venture with Paul Napier Ltd, a Lloyd's Insurance Broker based in London, to form Gatehouse Napier, the world's first Shariah compliant insurance broker offering premium Takaful and Re-Takaful commercial risk solutions in London.

Gatehouse Napier brings the best of talent and expertise from the City of London, home to the world's largest specialist insurance market and strong financial services regulatory environment, and also aspiring platform for the development of Shariah financial services. (full story)


At the 6th Annual World Takaful Conference in Dubai, Richard Thomas, CEO, Gatehouse Bank and Director of the Board for Gatehouse Napier, commented, "This groundbreaking partnership will help meet a critical demand fuelled by an exponential increase in Shariah compliant investor activity into the UK market. Gatehouse Napier will help provide insurance protection for Shariah investors investing in large commercial assets in London and Europe," added Thomas.

Newly appointed at the helm, Richard Bishop, CEO of Gatehouse Napier, speaking at a high-powered panel discussion at the conference, stated, "We are excited about this new venture which will introduce a new dimension to the global Takaful market, with the introduction of high quality capacity, that is price-competitive that also achieves Shariah compliance in all its undertakings in product and delivery to market. we are partnering with key Takaful and Re-Takaful operators to provide viable Shariah compliant solutions for GCC investors with designated commercial interests both in the GCC but also in the UK and Europe. With our specialist insurance expertise in commercial risk, we aim to partner with these operators, and use our shared knowledge and expertise of the sector to develop premium Takaful solutions to meet their clients' demands."

According to reports from international law firm Trowers and Hamlins, GCC investors have invested more than £3bn on UK commercial property in the post financial crisis.

Gatehouse Bank alone has completed more than £200m value of Shariah compliant property acquisitions but up until now, it did not possess any recourse to quality, Shariah compliant, commercial risk protection for these assets on behalf of its clients.

Gatehouse Napier will provide a global gateway for corporate and institutional clients seeking commercial risk protections. Its initial mandate will be to focus on covering the management and provision of risk protection for Real Estate, Trade Finance and Financial Institutions.

Source : http://www.ameinfo.com/261765.html - April 12, 2011