London
Sharia finance is rapidly growing in the UK, Canada and Australia, and generally expanding across the globe. “Sharia-compliant financial assets are forecast to reach $3.8trn by 2023, averaging annual growth of 10 percent.” A UK-based company aims to boost international opportunities of Sharia finance even further. In the latest edition of World Finance, published by the London company World News Media Limited, “the 2020 Islamic Finance Awards celebrate the success stories that have emerged out of this rapidly growing sector.” The World Finance Awards page states: Our judging panel boasts over 230 years of financial and business journalism, supported by a research team that works round the clock to ensure our award winners are the most deserving in their sector. But that’s only part of the puzzle. We rely on reader insight and experience to provide nominations to the judging panel, and we relish hearing about new experts and burgeoning markets. But a main goal of the awards is to boost and encourage growth in its winners in the Islamic Finance sector. World Finance acknowledges that “although Islamic banking continues to show solid growth, there has been some turbulence,” therefore, “the World Finance Islamic Finance Awards 2020 showcase the firms looking to the future by broadening their appeal.” Islamic finance in the UK shows the biggest growth trends, according to World Finance, so its publisher, World News Media Limited, couldn’t be based in a more opportune country. World Finance indicates that “beyond Africa, the UK presents a huge prospect for the Islamic finance market. The country became the first western nation to issue a sovereign sukuk in 2014, and now it is the biggest centre for Sharia-compliant finance in the West. There are five licensed, fully Sharia-compliant banks in the UK, and more than 20 additional banks offer some form of Islamic banking.”—Agencies
