World Islamic Banking Conference

July 8 2008

While concerns about the state of ‘conventional’ banking may be prevalent in the current economic climate one sector bucking the trend, especially in Birmingham, is the Islamic banking industry.

Building upon its recent successes in attracting major investment to the city from this industry Birmingham is now looking to take advantage of this with a strong showing at the World Islamic Banking Conference being held in London on July 8th.

Birmingham’s status within this sector stems from the presence in the city of the UK’s only Sharia compliant bank – the Islamic Bank of Britain – which opened its headquarters in Birmingham last year.

Council leader Mike Whitby said:” The presence of the Islamic Bank here in Birmingham further underlines our global presence and market leading ability to build new forms of finance here in the UK. It also connects us very directly with new ways of doing business that are creating dramatic economic opportunities for local businesses right across the world.

Mike Loftus, of Locate in Birmingham, said: “The very nature of Islamic banking precludes many of the more exotic financial instruments which have been so damaging to the sector recently, and at the same time guarantees its stability

“Moreover, since the boom in the sector began we have started to see a ripple effect occurring, which increasingly is seeing an increase in the number of specialist lawyers and accountants moving to the city to service this very fast growing market.”

Birmingham City Council will be joined in London by representatives from the Islamic Bank of Britain itself. IBB Commercial Director, Sultan Choudhury, said:

“Birmingham is an excellent location for IBB. The city is centrally placed within reach of 90% of the UK Muslim population. It has a skilled labour force, cost effective office space, the largest professional services sector outside London and a significant financial services industry. All these factors combine to provide critical advantages to a retail bank such as IBB."

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