UK - LUXEMBOURG - London and Luxembourg battle over sukuk listing domicile

London and Luxembourg are engaged in a friendly “battle of the listings domicile” especially for sukuk and Islamic investment funds, and its seems that the London Stock Exchange (LSE) currently has the upper hand on its counterpart in the Duchy, Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

In a short and simple announcement on June 1, the London Stock Exchange welcomed "the listing of another two sukuk bringing the total number of sukuk which have listed on the exchange to 33 and the total money raised to $19.4 billion." The two latest listings coup include the IDB Trust Services Ltd.’s $750 million Trust Certificates, and the SIB Sukuk Company II Ltd.'s $400 million Trust Certificates which are due on May 25, 2016. (source - arabnews)

LUXEMBOURG - IFSB’s debut summit in Europe attracts widespread interest

This year’s 8th annual summit of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), scheduled to be held at the New Conference Centre Kirchberg in Luxembourg on May 10-13, is already making an impact.

The summit, hosted by the Banque Centrale de Luxembourg, is attracting particular interest from the European Union in addition to the traditional markets in the Middle East and Asia.

The summit indeed will be held for the first time in a EU country and Luxembourg is threatening to overtake the UK and France in spearheading Islamic finance in Europe. (full story)