UK - UK bids to remain West's top Islamic finance hub

www.zawya.com - London has been providing Islamic financial services for 30 years, but in recent years the industry has started to attain a greater profile.

The United Kingdom ranks ninth globally amongst countries providing Islamic finance services, according to a May 2011 CityUK report. That makes it the leading Western country and Europe's premier Islamic finance center with USD 19 billion of reported assets. London has been providing Islamic financial services for 30 years, but in recent years the industry has started to attain a greater profile.

Omar Shaikh, board member of the Islamic Finance Council (IFC) in Britain, thinks that this higher profile results from four main factors. (source)

UK - DIFC based Hawkamah partners with Islamic Finance Council UK to organize Shariah scholar training programme in Dubai

Dubai International Financial Centre-based Hawkamah, Institute for Corporate Governance, has partnered with the Islamic Finance Council UK (IFC) to trial a unique training programme which provides tailored conventional markets training for Shariah scholars. The programme is exclusively tailored for Shariah scholars and those involved with the Shariah assurance process and has been run successfully in London, Bahrain and Kuala Lumpur. 

The IFC Scholar Professional Development Programme, developed by the IFC, a UK based not-for-profit, and assisted by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment Institute (CISI), provides a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) approach comprising of relevant and structured learning activities on conventional markets. (source)

UK - The Scottish Government is looking again at using Islamic finance to bankroll major infrastructure projects

The Islamic Finance Council, a UK-wide body based in Glasgow, says it held talks with Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International on December 10, describing it as “a joint round table with the IFC exploring opportunities for renewable energy sector investments using Islamic finance”.

Meanwhile, leading financial lawyer Graham Burnside, a member of the IFC, has said Islamic bonds could be used fund major projects including the £2.3 billion Forth road crossing.