Brexit: Could London Lose Its Islamic Finance Crown?

When Manchester, under the patronage of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for State Hugo Swire, hosted the third annual meeting of the Global Islamic Finance and Investment Group (GIFIG) on 28 April 2016 to discuss Islamic finance growth, Brexit was far from the reality.

During the forum, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Harriett Baldwin, emphasised that the government was determined to cement the UK’s status as the leading Western hub for Islamic finance. This aspiration emanated from UK Export Finance guaranteeing its first Sukuk bond last year. This guarantee was for the 10-year US$913 million Sukuk (Islamic bond) issued by Emirates Airlines and was used to finance the acquisition of 4 Airbus A380 aircraft. It was the largest ever capital market’s offering...