London based insurers bring sharia compliant products and services to market
Michael Williams, CEO of BLME, Bank of London and the Middle East says the UK says Middle Eastern investors increasingly invest in UK assets as a flight to safety.
Who is offering Islamic finance in London?
There are over twenty-two financial institutions offering Islamic finance in London, five of which are solely sharia-compliant. There are not only banks such as ours, BLME, which is the largest Islamic bank in Europe, but there are also insurance underwriters like Cobalt Underwriting who employ a Shariah Supervisory Board.
What are the terms of using Islamic finance?
Islamic finance functions in a very similar manner to conventional finance. However, there are certain criteria that each transaction must meet. For example, Islamic banks cannot invest in an overly-leveraged company, use capital to finance weapons or offer products that are not asset-based such as a credit default swap.
Will we see Islamic financial institutions taking a hit as economic difficulties bite?
It depends entirely on the strategy of each individual institution. For example, BLME’s geographic exposure is sixty percent UK-based with very limited exposure to emerging markets.
Will we see a rise in Islamic finance as oil revenues affect the Middle East?
We are seeing a rise in customers from the Middle East as they look to the UK as a safe haven and London in particular has always had its attractions for these customers.

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