IFSL to Support the 2008 London Sukuk Summit

International Financial Services London (IFSL) are pleased to announce our participation in and support for the 2008 London Sukuk Summit which will be held at the Royal Horseguards in Whitehall on the 25th to 26th June 2008. The Summit whose theme is ‘Gearing up for UK Sukuk Originations’, is supported by the UK Treasury; the Financial Services Authority (FSA); the City of London Corporation and the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB).

It is also endorsed by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the trade promotion body jointly funded by the Dept for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

An IFSL report on Islamic Finance published in January 2008 estimated that the global market for Islamic financial services has grown three fold over the past decade to $531bn in 2006. London is establishing itself as the key western centre for Islamic finance. The cluster of expertise in London is represented by banks, fund managers, international law firms, a secondary market in Sukuk and a growing market for retail mortgage business.

IFSL is taking a leading role in the promotion of Islamic financial services available from the UK through its Islamic Finance Working Group, involving the private sector and government. For further information on the work of IFSL’s Islamic Finance for Business Working Group or a copy of the report see www.ifsl.org.uk The timing of the Summit could not be more opportune.

It comes at a time when the UK government took a definitive step nearer to the eventual issuance of a debut sovereign benchmark Islamic bond (Sukuk) when Chancellor of Exchequer Alistair Darling confirmed in his Budget 2008 announcement on 12 March that “the Government remains committed to examining this issue and will continue to assess the feasibility of issuing a sovereign Sukuk.” In fact the UK Government has taken legal powers in the Finance Bill 2008 to facilitate a future sovereign issuance.

The Sukuk Summit will be addressed by a bevy of top local and international experts including Professor Rifaat A Karim, Secretary General of the IFSB, the prudential and supervisory standard setting body for the global Islamic finance sector; Dr Abdur-Rahman Taha, CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Exports Credits and Investment (ICIEC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group; Michael Ainley, Head of Financial Institutions at the FSA; and Darko Hajdukovic, Manager, Debt Products, London Stock Exchange.

IFSL see the Sukuk Summit as a vital event in consolidating London as a major international hub for Islamic trade, finance and investment, which is in line with the stated policy of the UK government.

We look forward to participating in the Summit and plan to leverage and to contribute to the discussions and networking opportunities to expand our contacts and further understanding of the sector. If you have any interest in Islamic capital markets or in Sukuk and other Islamic commercial papers, this is a Summit which you simply cannot afford to miss.