05 Feb 09 Bank of Japan Gives Away Money Interest Free
An interesting opinion piece written back in December by William Pesek. If all central banks start offering zero percent on money loaned, it will raise many new possibilities that didn’t exist before for Islamic Finance. One of the interesting things pointed out in the article is that Islamic assets will be worth $1 Trillion by 2010.
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Fed, BOJ Signal We Are All Islamic Bankers Now: William Pesek
Commentary by William Pesek
Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) — Attending Islamic finance conferences these days, it’s hard not to notice how this investment class is catching on.
- Image by GetHiroshima via Flickr
The world’s roughly 1.5 billion Muslims need a way to bank and invest according to Islamic Sharia law, which bars receiving or paying interest on loans or deposits. A massive market infrastructure is being built to facilitate clients that include wildly rich Persian Gulf oil tycoons.
Yet isn’t this industry being pirated by the Bank of Japan, Federal Reserve and other central banks destined to offer interest-free loans? As U.S. President
Richard Nixon, echoing Milton Friedman, famously quipped in 1971: “We are all Keynesians now.” By 2009, we may all be Islamic bankers, too.
It’s an odd yet apt comparison. Islamic banking is more about the means by which a certain group of people obtains money. Zero interest rates are about getting as much money, in any way possible, to everyone.
There’s still something to be said about the spreading appeal of scrapping interest rates. It’s no longer a unique aspect of certain transactions or a banking novelty. It’s becoming the norm, and it’s quite disorienting. (more…)
Tags: bank of japan, ben bernanke, federal reserve, Islamic Finance
27 Jan 09 The Value of Islamic Finance
I have been very busy. But the frequency that I come across articles praising Islamic finance and the principals that it espouses is intriguing. Many Western countries see Islamic banking as a potential out, not only for the funds that have been unaffected by the crisis, but also the moderation and economic sensibilities that come along with this type of banking. Read below an article that appeared in the International Herald Tribune. (more…)
Tags: france, global financial crisis, islamic banking, islamic investment, sukuk
22 Jan 09 Michigan Bank Profits from Islamic Products
Interesting article from CNBC. In light of the current economic climate, it seems that there is a great deal to be learned from these alternative models. The bank in question is University Islamic Financial Corp. We’ll learn more about them in a later post. In the meantime, read this while I struggle in research.
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Finance the Islamic way at small US bank
By: The Associated Press | 14 Jan 2009 | 12:05 AM ET
DETROIT - Big financial institutions have been battered by mortgages gone bad. But a tiny Michigan bank is getting attention in the industry by turning a profit on loans without even charging interest.
Its specialty: financial products that comply with Islamic law. That means no collecting interest, no short selling and no contracts that are considered exceedingly risky. (more…)
Tags: Banking, cnbc, detroit, islamic banking, Islamic Finance
17 Jan 09 Origins of American Finance House LARIBA
This is not an endorsement!
This is one of the few companies in the United States that offers Islamic Mortgages called LaRiba or no riba (usury). They have been around for sometime. There are some disagreements on whether or not their products are genuinely Sharia compliant. This is a video from their founder.
Tags: islamic mortgages, lariba
07 Jan 09 HSBC and Their Islamic Banking Products
This is not an endorsement!
A bit of HSBC marketing describing their activity. I’m going to be taking a deeper dive analyzing their products and how their products are ‘Islamic’. Interesting stuff.
Tags: Banking, financial products, hsbc, islam
