EUROPE - INDEXES - Changes DJIM Europe

www.djindexes.com -Changes Follow Regular Annual Review - LONDON (7 June 2012) – Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced the results of the regular annual review of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index and its three subindexes, Dow Jones Islamic Market U.S. Titans 50 Index, Dow Jones Islamic Market Asia/Pacific Titans 25 Index and Dow Jones Islamic Market Europe Titans 25 Index as well as the Dow Jones Islamic Market Malaysia Titans 25 Index. All changes will be effective after the close of trading on Friday, June 15, 2012.  (source)

FRANCE - Paris seeks to become Islamic finance hub in Europe

www.zawya.com - A report prepared by KFH-Research stated that new global markets are seeking to join the main players in the Islamic financing industry and services, such as France. France is working relentlessly to make numerous legal and organizational reformations to facilitate the offering of Islamic financial services and products.
The report added that there is great potential for growth in the field of Islamic financial services in France, since France seeks to become a hub for Islamic banking in Europe. It noted that 1.5 million clients are willing to use Islamic banking tools and products, which equals USD 18.2 billion. In addition, French authorities have offered strong support to develop Islamic banking services, not to mention the high number of Muslims living there who seek Islamic banking services. However, the report mentioned that some legislations need to be amended. (source)

EUROPE - INFORMATION - Help with postgraduate thesis needed

Dear Sirs,

The main reason for this letter is that I am currently working on my postgraduate thesis about Islamic banks and their nature of business.

In one of the chapters I am going to write about Islamic banks in the Europe and in specific countries (France, Germany and England).

I would be very grateful if you could give me some directions where to find the latest information about Islamic banks in Europe and the Europe banking sector (conventional and Islamic banking comparison) for 2011.

Thank you in advance.

Kind regards!

Vedrana Orlović

Specijalistica za kartične proizvode / Card products specialist

Upravljanje kartičnim proizvodima / Card products management

Proizvodi kartičnog i transakcijskog poslovanja / Cards and Transactional Banking

Zagrebačka banka d.d. / Zagrebacka bank

UniCredit Group 
contact details at webmaster

EUROPE - PRESENTATIONS - Islamic finance in Europe: opportuntities, trends, challenges

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EUROPE - ARTICLE - Islamic Banking and Finance on the European Market

(by ISFIN) Islamic Finance, developed during the 70's in the Muslim countries, is experiencing an increasing popularity far outside the Muslim World's frontiers. In a world where the dominance of the capitalist economy is obvious, the development of a system where the main principle is the exclusion the interest rate comes close to being an exploit. At first, Islamic finance has been implemented in the Western World mainly to benefit from the advantages offered by European financial centers such as the Luxembourg and Switzerland. From this first tendency, only the corporate and private banking clients have taken advantage of. It is only recently that retail services started to be offered on the Western territory, conscious of the increasing economic power of the different European Muslim communities. (full article and source)

GERMANY - Why German blushes could have been saved by a vibrant sukuk market

Sovereign Germany might be disappointed that its recent Eurobond offering was not fully subscribed. Perhaps in hindsight, had it instead opted to issue a debut Eurosukuk for the same amount, the story might well have been different.

Sukuk issuers, whether conventional entities such as HSBC Middle East or Goldman Sachs (both of which tapped the sukuk market in 2011, or Islamic banks, agree that market conditions in the sukuk space is more favorable than in the conventional space. And this confidence and appetite for Sukuk is backed by rising demand from big institutional investors in the Middle East and Asia. (source)

SPAIN - EUROPE - Saudi-Spanish Collaboration Seeks to boost Islamic finance values in Europe and beyond

Islamic finance in the European Union may be taking a back seat as the continent is gripped with a dire euro zone sovereign debt crisis which has even impacted on sovereign Germany's attractiveness as a bond investment asset class.

Similarly, London's role as a hub for Islamic finance, investment and trade - the declared ambition of the previous Labor government and the current Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition - is stalling because of the disappointment of the UK Treasury deciding not to raise funds in the wholesale sterling market through a debut sovereign Sukuk. Luxembourg and France have also introduced tax neutrality measures to facilitate sukuk and other Islamic financial products, but have yet to commit to issuing a debut sukuk, claiming as the UK does it is not the right timing nor at the right price. (source)

UK - FRANCE - LUXEMBOURG - EVENTS - WIBC Bahrain : Top financial groups to attend Bahrain summit

tradearabia.com - Financial organisations from Bermuda and Luxembourg will be making their first appearance at this year's World Islamic Banking Conference.
And there will be a return of representation from Singapore as well as a strong turnout from Malaysia.
"This year's event will be at least as strong as last year's with forums being hosted by both the UK and, for the first time, France, reflecting the growing importance of Islamic finance in Europe," said event organiser David McLean.  (source)

DENMARK - Saxo Bank Enables Online Islamic Trading

sacbee.com - SAN FRANCISCO, DUBAI, UAE and HELLERUP, Denmark, November 21, 2011 -- /PRNewswire/ --

IdealRatings identifies Islamic compliant Equities and ETFs on 25 exchanges.

Saxo Bank A/S, the online trading and investment specialist, has today enabled its clients to identify and trade Islamic compliant stocks and ETFs on more than 25 exchanges worldwide. The Bank selected IdealRatings Inc., a leading global Islamic compliant fund management service provider, as the most reliable source for identifying Islamic compliant instruments globally. (source)

EUROPE - EVENTS - Europe can learn from Islamic finance, says Luxembourg's Finance Minister

biz.thestar.com.my - KUALA LUMPUR: Europe can learn and gain from Islamic finance, given that financial institutions under it, have remained stable against the backdrop of the eurozone debt crisis.

This observation was made by Luxembourg's Minister of Finance, Luc Frieden, in a keynote address at the IFN 2011 Issuers & Investors Asia Forum here today. Frieden said despite the credit crunch that has impacted Europe's banks, Islamic financial institutions had weathered the global crisis and emerged to be the most well managed. (source)

GERMANY - KL’s edge in Islamic finance - Bundesbank send representatives to Malaysia's Securities Commission for training on Islamic finance

thestaronline - German don: Malaysia’s comprehensive regulatory framework a competitive advantage

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's competitive advantage in Islamic finance is its comprehensive regulatory framework, according to a German economics professor. (source)

EUROPE - Islamic Banking in the West

halaltamweel.com - Islamic Banking has had a great start in Britain. It is partly because of huge Muslim population in Britain. Some apprehensions are found about Islamic Banking in North America. The report discusses how far Islamic Banking can grow in that part of the world. (source - report)

LUXEMBOURG - European Islamic finance: still waiting in the wings

LUXEMBOURGFORFINANCE LFF.LU - Global Islamic finance assets have remained flat at around 1 trillion dollars, of which 6% is held in investment funds. This is the topline figure of the shortly-to-be-published 2011 edition of Ernst & Young's Islamic funds report, which has become a reference in the industry. It was also the only figure leaked by E&Y, at an Islamic finance seminar they hosted within the framework of the Luxembourg AIF Club. This did not dampen a debate on how to expand the market. (source)

EUROPE - FRANCE - The Time is Now

There are growing calls from the industry for US and European politicians to ditch their skeptical line on Islamic finance and deploy sovereign Sukuk as a way out of a conventional debt-induced nightmare.

After months of deteriorating economic news, confidence in western government debt has collapsed and nervousness prevails in financial markets.

But a groundswell of opinion within the Islamic finance industry believes the moment has arrived for sovereign Sukuk to flourish. And France it seems, with its colonial ties to North and sub-Saharan Africa plus the Levant, has emerged as a front-runner. (source)

EUROPE - Thesis - The rise of Islamic banking in Western Europe

Rise of Islamic Banking in Western Europe

EUROPE - EVENTS - IFN 2011 Europe Forum - CIMA and KPMG

KPMG AND CIMA have drawn attention to the burgeoning field of Islamic finance of late, as the firm has appointed a new global head and the institute today launched a new qualification. (source)

EUROPE - European woe for SEREF

The place not to be if you were investing in a Shari’ah compliant Real Estate Investment Trust over the last few years was mainland Europe, as the $6.3m Solidarity European Real Estate fund aptly shows.

SEREF is a fund of funds that invests in other property funds as well as having the facility to invest directly in real estate. (source)

EUROPE - Growth of “Shariah-Compliant” banking in Europe

The European Union is emerging as a major centre of Islamic finance, based on Islamic Shariah law.

The spectacular growth prospects for the Islamic financial services industry in many European countries is being fuelled by Muslim mass immigration; despite a difficult economic climate on the continent, Islamic banking is growing faster in Britain, France and Germany than it is in many Islamic countries in the Middle East and Asia.

The key role that Europe is playing in establishing Islamic finance in the West was the central theme of the 8th Islamic Financial Services Board Summit, an annual conference that promotes Islamic banking around the world. Hosted by the Central Bank of Luxembourg from May 10-13, 2011, it was the first time the event was held in a European country. (source)

EUROPE - Takaful Emarat looks overseas

Peter Egger, deputy GM of Takaful Emarat has told The Islamic Globe that the Emirati Takaful firm is looking to expand to overseas markets. He said: “Once we reach break-even in our home market, we plan to expand in the Middle East and in a later stage to European countries with significant Muslim communities such as the UK, Germany, France and Austria.” (full story)

EDUCATION - ITALY - Europe - Summer school in Rome "Islamic Finance in Europe"

Applications are welcome for a summer school
at the Istituto Luigi Sturzo in Rome on 30 June - 1 July 2011

The Summer School organized in cooperation with the Erasmus Mundus Master in Development Economics and International Co-operation offers a comprehensive investigation of Islamic economics and law related to the financial sector, with peculiar attention to the emergence of an economic and legal pluralism in Europe.

The Summer School is addressed both to practitioners (bankers, lawyers, economic advisors, members of NGOs, etc) and to students and researchers in Economics, Law, Finance, International and Political Studies.

Deadline for application: 24th June 2011 (for early registration, by 27th May 2011, a discount is offered on the course fees). 

More information is available here.