Excerpt:
The West Midlands is establishing a global presence in the field of Islamic finance, partly because our European rivals are reluctant to adapt to principles set out in the Koran around 1,400 years ago.
Islamic finance is a hotly debated topic at present, and the Government seems determined to establish the UK as an international Islamic finance centre, targeting the Middle and Far East markets in particular.
While other European financial centres have remained inflexible towards Islamic finance, the UK Government has introduced various reforms to ensure as far as possible that it is tax neutral compared to non-Islamic finance, and has approved Sharia-compliant financial products such as mortgages and investments.
Sharia-compliant financing is based on Islamic laws which forbid charging or receiving interest on money. This has led to it being seems as a more reliable form of doing business as loans cannot be made without tangible collateral.