Bahrain-based ABC Bank has announced that it will begin
marketing Islamic financial products to European clients that have
found themselves constrained by the sustained gridlock in the
credit markets.
“We are aiming to target the wholesale market, especially
companies in Europe that are interested in seeking Islamic finance
solutions, for example sukuk, leasing, and general corporate
facilities,” said Faisal Alshowaikh, the newly- appointed head of
Islamic financial services at ABC International.
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Until now, the firm had only offered mainstream products to
clients of the London-based ABC International Bank. According to
ABC, Islamic finance has been held back by “punitive tax
structures”, pointing out that Europe is still to see its first
corporate sukuk (an Islamic bond).
Alshowaikh believes the UK and France were the two European
countries offering the most opportunities for Sharia services.
“There is certainly an interest on the government level in the
UK, and recently France, to progress on the Islamic finance
agenda,” he said.
An in-depth look into the Islamic finance market will appear
in the next issue of Leasing Life (June issue).
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