Islamic finance is attracting considerable interest from a broad range of investors.

European Islamic Investment Bank (EIIB) is the main sponsor of the first Sukuk Summit to be hosted in London.

EIIB is the first independent, Sharia’a compliant Islamic investment bank to be authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority.

The summit has been endorsed by the UK Government’s UK Trade and Investment organisation and brought together a host of major players from both the UK and international financial services industry, with discussions centring on the viability of the sukuk, financial and regulatory dynamics and the potential of mobilising this new source of competitive and ethical funding. 

John Weguelin, managing director of EIIB, chaired the inaugural session on day one and also gave a presentation on ‘Future Drivers of the Sukuk Sector – Towards the Development of a Euro Sukuk Market’.  

John Weguelin said: “Islamic finance is continuing to attract considerable interest and the indicators of future growth are very positive. 

“Global sukuk issuance, for example, is estimated to be over $70 billion and that figure is expected to rise rapidly to $100 billion. 

“We are also increasingly seeing interest for Islamic products, not just from Muslim investors, but also from a broad range of conventional investors. 

“I believe that continuing developments across the industry will ensure that Islamic finance becomes a sustainable part of the global financial markets, sitting comfortably alongside conventional finance.”

EIIB was incorporated in January 2005 and received its authorisation by the FSA on  March 8, 2006.

On April 3, it opened for business, and on May 17 completed its IPO and was admitted to London’s AIM market.

Headquartered in London, EIIB’s range of products and services include the following Sharia’a compliant investment banking activities:

- Islamic Treasury and Capital Markets

- Asset Management, including Private Banking

- Structured Trade Finance

- Corporate Finance and Advisory

- Sharia’a Advisory.

EIIB aims to deliver a full choice of alternative investment opportunities, enabling Islamic investors to construct balanced and sophisticated portfolios which can access a full range of asset classes internationally.

EIIB will seek to service a market for Sharia’a compliant investment banking services in Europe, the Middle East and Asia that it believes has been under-exploited by conventional and Islamic banks, and by non-banking institutions.

EIIB intends to become a major participant in the market for Islamic securities, treasury and investment products, which is currently experiencing rapid growth.

The founding shareholders of EIIB include Gulf based individuals and institutions, including a number of Islamic banks, as well as individuals and companies based in Europe. TradeArabia News Service