February, 01 , 2010

"Islamic finance is, and will continue to be, an important part of the government's overall commitment to ensuring a competitive financial services sector in the UK," reiterated Sarah McCarthy-Fry MP, exchequer secretary to Treasury, in London at a seminar entitled "New Year -- New Opportunities in Islamic Finance," hosted by the international law firm, Norton Rose, in London recently.This statement of intent coincides with two notable developments relevant to the European Islamic finance sector in the last two weeks or so.

Firstly, the UK Treasury and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have been working to remove barriers and uncertainty in the regulation of alternative finance investment bonds (sukuk).Following consultation with the industry, the statutory instrument, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 Order 2010, was sent to the House of Commons in mid-January, and the Brown government is confident that the new regulations will come into effect by the end of February.