Islamic finance faces growth challenges

In Malaysia, Islamic finance has been developing at a rapid pace during the recent years and has become a serious rival to conventional banking in largely Muslim countries like this. The pioneer lender in the country - HSBC - embodies the development and success of Islamic banking in Malaysia. However, in other countries the bank did not gain such a profit. Not long ago it even announced the closing of its Islamic finance operations in six markets, remaining present only in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and a scaled-down operation in Indonesia. The reason therefore is said to be the differences in interpretation of the Islamic law in different countries.