The market for Islamic banking is forecast to grow at double the rate that conventional wholesale banking will grow in the next five years. Unsurprisingly, banking centres around the world are scrambling to establish footprints in the market. Natasha de Terán investigates how London is positioned.
Lower oil prices have not dried out the huge liquidity available to most Middle East banks, which have continued to produce booming profits and strong growth in the region, especially in the Gulf. As a result, the number of banks from the Middle East region in the 2007 Top 1000 has increased from 83 last year to 94.
Sharia-compliant investing and structured products are two of the largest and highest margin growth areas for investment banks. Both are born out of specialist structuring teams, rich with fiscal and regulatory experts, so it is almost inevitable that compliant structured products are fast becoming voguish. Natasha de Terán explores the market.