Islamic bank gets go-ahead
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Islamic Bank of Britain will have its headquarters in Birmingham and the first branch will be in Edgware Road, London. Branches in Leicester and Birmingham are also planned.
The bank will operate in accordance with Islamic Sharia principles which dictate that the giving or receiving of interest is forbidden. Sharia also prohibits trading money for money and the investment of money in unethical industries.
By November this year the bank will operate nationally via telephone and post and will also offer Shariacompliant current accounts with debit cards and finance agreements.
Michael Hanlon, managing director of IBB, says: "As Islamic banking operates without interest, the products we offer are structured in a different way to those of conventional banks. We will be offering a broad range of Sharia compliant banking products and services and will be using the latest technology to ensure we provide reliable and quality service."
Iqbal Asaria, chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain Business & Economics Committee, says: "The granting of a banking licence to the IBB is a watershed event in the history of Islamic finance in the UK as it marks the beginning of the launch of regulated Sharia-compliant products for the Muslim community.
"We are confident this will open up channels for the launch of a full range of Islamic financial instruments in the UK."
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