IslamicFinance.de

London’s popularity as an Islamic finance hub emerged in 2013, when Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled plans to develop the city into the Western capital of Islamic finance. In 2014, London took a step further when Britain became the first country outside the Islamic world to issue sovereign Sukuk. The key benefit of this policy was attracting additional liquidity from investors in the Middle East and Asia adhering to Islamic finance principles. The London Stock Exchange is a key global venue for the issuance of Sukuk. According to the LSE Group official website, over $48bn has been raised through 65 issuances. Other centres such as Dublin and Luxembourg also have ambitions to attract Islamic financial services. Furthermore, in April this year Saudi Arabia listed its biggest ever sharia-compliant bond on the Irish Stock Exchange, so the competition between the Western financial centres is more intense than ever.