First Islamic bank to open in UK

THE Islamic Bank of Britain will open its doors for business next month. The Financial Services Authority has given the green light for the first Islamic bank to serve the UK's 1.8m Muslims.

Its headquarters will be in Birmingham and other branches are planned for Birmingham and Leicester.

The Bank will be, offering its clients financial products respecting Islamic Sharia law. The Sharia bans the payment of interest on loans and investment in sectors such as alcohol and tobacco.

To deal with the no-interest payment rule, the IBB will itself buy the assets sought by its clients then sell them back at a fixed price via monthly payments.

Michael Hanlon, managing director of the Islamic Bank said: 'As Islamic banking operates without the use of interest, the products that we offer our customers are structured in a different way to those in conventional banks.

'We are confident that we can provide customers with a range of Sharia'a compliant products and services, equivalent to those available in a conventional bank and competitively priced.'

Iqbal Asaria, chair of the Muslim Council of Britain's business and economics committee, said: 'The granting of a banking licence to the Islamic Bank of Britain by the Financial Services Authority is a watershed event in the history of Islamic finance in the UK as it marks the beginning of the launch of fully regulated Sharia compliant products for the Muslim community.'

To receive information on the Islamic Bank of Britain call 0845 6060 786 or visit www.islamic-bank.com