(Creeping Sharia)
HAMILTON (Bermuda), 27 Safar/21 Jan (IINA)-Luring Islamic funds into the British island, Bermuda has introduced a set of new laws to launch Sharia-compliant platform amid efforts to become the first western center for the growing global industry, The Royal Gazette reported recently.
“We are looking at the Sharia side of Bermuda’s legislation to become the first Western centre for Islamic finance,” said Peter Hughes, director of Apex Fund Services group.
Hoping
to become a western hub for Islamic finance, executives from the Island
have been actively reviewing existing laws to launch a Sharia-compliant
platform for investors.
These efforts began last November when Hughes, along with Business Bermuda CEO Cheryl Packwood, led a group at the 18th World Islamic Banking Conference in Bahrain.
The
delegation tried to show the Island was open for businesses and clients
from Asia and the Middle East, being capable of handling
Sharia-compliant financial structures.
“We
are looking to launch a Sharia platform that will allow us to have
Sharia vehicles and products that would enable us to become the first
one of its kind,” Hughes said.
“We have made a real push into this niche area,” he added.
The new Sharia complaint rules succeeded in luring new clients from Islamic finance hubs in Asia and Middle East.
“We
now have strong links in Bahrain and there is a commonality of wanting
to create a niche jurisdiction for Sharia compliancy, that is closer to
the US timezone,” Packwood, Business Bermuda CEO, said.
Starting
almost three decades ago, the Islamic banking industry has made
substantial growth and attracted the attention of investors and bankers
across the world.
A long
list of international institutions, including Citigroup, HSBC and
Deutsche Bank, are going into the Islamic banking business.
Currently,
there are nearly 300 Islamic banks and financial institutions worldwide
whose assets are predicted to grow to $1 trillion by 2013.