QIB-UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Qatar Islamic Bank Group, has won the ‘Best Islamic Bank United Kingdom’ award from The Banker Magazine. This is QIB-UK’s fi rst award of that kind aft er a strong fi nancial performance for the year ending 2018. The bank saw its net profit aft er tax increased by […]
Multiple awards and new chairman of Al-Rayan
At the beginning of February, Al Rayan Bank announced the appointment of Simon Moore as the Chairman of its board of directors.Moore replaces Robert Sharpe who is stepping out after four years of chairman’s role. Also serving as the chairman of Cambridge & Counties Bank , Moore was a member of the management board of […]
Record Year for UK’s Islamic Finance
The UK’s Islamic finance sector continued to grow in 2018 despite the economic uncertainty posed by the lack of a trade deal with the European Union in the aftermath of Brexit vote. The country witnessed its largest ever corporate Sukuk issuance and the launch of several new initiatives such as the Islamic Fintech Panel and […]
ADIB UK Finances US$51.23 million hotel acquisition
Earlier this month, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, closed a commercial financing transaction for the acquisition of a Travelodge Hotel located at London’s Heathrow Airport. The property was acquired by a Saudi-based client for GBP40.3 million (US$51.23 million), with ADIB providing GBP26 million (US$33.05 million) of […]
UK’s first Islamic economy accelerator
UK is set to have its first Islamic economy accelerator named “iE5” to support the growth and success of start-up companies based in the UK or desiring a presence in the UK. Established by a team of Islamic finance leaders and led by Harris Irfan of Gateway and Abdul Haseeb Basit of Ellipses Advisory, the […]
Takaful policies and opportunities in the UK
With reportedly over 10 Takaful providers in the UK, there has not been a strong adoption of Islamic insurance by the Muslim market as one would expect given the growth of Islamic banking and finance in the country. The lack of standardization in the Takaful market could be a key factor for the slow growth. […]
The UK’s largest corporate Sukuk issuance; London Stock Exchange hosts Sukuk Summit
Aft er proposing its first-ever Sukuk offering in January, Al Rayan successfully closed the largest corporate Sukuk issuance in the UK’s history last month with the Tolkien Funding Sukuk No 1 raising GBP250 million (US$349.18 million) in capital. The Sukuk facility was rated ‘A’ and priced at 0.8% above the LIBOR rate. The bank did […]
The UK’s Islamic Fintech panel launched
Islamic finance and fintech practitioners came together on the 24th January for the inaugural meeting of the UK Islamic Fintech Panel. According to the recent Islamic Fintech Landscape report by RED money Group, the UK has the second-largest number of Islamic fintech firms at 18, second only to Malaysia which has 21 fintech firms. The […]
UK strengthens its position as Islamic Finance Centre
Introduction Islamic finance in the UK has continued to grow despite the economic uncertainty in the aftermath of the Brexit vote last year and the snap election in June. Islamic banks continued to demonstrate continued strength with record earnings from the Al-Rayan Bank, the country’s largest Islamic financial institution by assets. The first Shariah-compliant crowdfunding […]
Discover a World of Opportunities
This week the Institute of Directors (IoD) and the Scottish Business Network (SBN) will be hosting Scottish International Week. An amazing forum to learn and interact with some of Scotland’s leading businessmen and women with a track-record of success in new markets such as the Europe, North America, Middle East, and China. The forum will be held throughout the week, starting today […]