The report 'Global trends in Islamic finance and the UK market 2019' by TheCityUK, supported by international law firm Trowers & Hamlins, shows the UK is the leading Western centre for Islamic finance, with Sharia compliant assets within the UK totalling $6bn (£4.7bn) in 2017.
The number of institutions located in the UK offering Islamic finance services (15) is estimated to be nearly double the number located in the US, and far ahead of other Western countries. With five licensed sharia compliant banks and 72 listed Sukuk registered on the London Stock Exchange, the UK offers one of the most attractive regulatory and tax systems for Islamic finance anywhere in the world.
‘Global Trends in Islamic finance and the UK market’, also shows that globally Islamic banking assets totalled $1.7trn at the end of 2017, up 2.7% year on year. As the leading centre of Islamic finance education and training, the UK is strongly positioned to meet the growing global demand for skills in Islamic finance.
Given its role as the global leader for FinTech, the UK is also in pole position to capitalise on the burgeoning Islamic finance FinTech market. There were around 120 Islamic FinTech firms globally at the end of 2017, with the UK ranking second with 18 of those.
