Lloyds Drops Overdraft Fee On Islamic Accounts

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Bank accused of discrimination after telling Muslims they would escape overdraft charge of up to £80 a month

Lloyds Bank has been accused of religious discrimination after offering free overdraft accounts to Muslims.

The bank sent customers a booklet this month explaining new charges.

While many will have to pay up to £80 a month if they go into the red, Muslims were told they would escape the charges. The document said: “We are removing the monthly overdraft management fee of £6 from our Islamic Account, Islamic Student Account and Islamic Graduate Account. So, if you use an unplanned overdraft on these accounts, there won’t be any charges.”

One customer, Anita Milton, a nurse of New Eltham, south London, said: “I can’t believe that they’re thinking of offering one account for Muslims and making everyone else pay for the same service. Do I have to change my religion to get the best deal?"

Barclays, Co-op Bank and RBS said they do not offer alternative bank accounts to Muslim customers. » | Keith Perry | Friday, April 25, 2014

My comment:

What the hell is the matter with the powers-that-be in my country? Have they all lost their cojones, or what?

This is supposed to be Great Britain. What a bloody laugh that is! Little Britain would be a more apt name for it. Anything "great" about this country was lost many years ago. The country is turning into a Third World sh**hole! All because our leaders haven't got the courage to say "NO". Whatever happened to the concept of ONE LAW FOR ALL?

There is no such thing as Shari'ah lite. Ultimately, the monster will grow so strong that it will consume us. Are the powers-that-be so bloody stupid that they can't comprehend that? Kick the idiots that make these ludicrous decisions out! We, the people, want our country back. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

UK to Be First Non-Muslim Country to Host Islamic Economic Forum

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: London will host the ninth World Islamic Economic Forum in October, the first time that the event will be held outside of a Muslim country, as the British capital looks to become a global hub for Sharia finance.

More than 1,500 delegates, including government and business leaders, as well as scholars, will descend on London for the three-day event, which sets out to boost trade partnerships between Islamic and European markets.

"Hosting this prestigious conference... presents huge opportunities to promote London as a world beating business hub, highlighting our status as a major centre of Islamic finance and as a compelling destination for foreign investors," Mayor of London Boris Johnson said in comments posted on the event's website.

Britain has the largest Islamic banking sector outside the Middle East and Asia, the website said. Read on and comment » | Edited by Andrew Trotman | Thursday, July 04, 2013

Investors Shy Away from Sharia Funds Following Arab Spring
FINANCIAL NEWS: Sharia-compliant funds had been proving increasingly popular until the global financial crisis and then the Arab Spring frightened off investors and stymied private equity activity in the Middle East.

Fundraising volumes have collapsed, with not a single sharia fund raised so far this year, acacording [sic] to data provider Preqin.

Sharia-compliant funds, which enable investors to comply with Islamic law, are simple to structure and are guided by certain principles relating to interest accrual and the types of investment they can make.

Funds could be restricted, for example, from investing in businesses related to alcohol, gambling, pornography, weapons, tobacco and pork-related products. The funds are overseen and approved by a sharia supervisory board.

Sharia funds have varying degrees of flexibility depending on their target investors, which can include ultra high net worth individuals, institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds, according to Richard Hughes, a senior fund services manager at fund administration specialist Vistra Group.

Private equity firms based outside the Middle East can target Muslim investors by offering side-vehicles set up alongside existing funds that are not sharia-compliant.

Before the onset of the financial crisis, interest in sharia funds had been on the rise, with private equity firms raising $5.6bn of capital through six such funds in 2006. » | Ayesha Javed | Monday, September 12, 2011

Muslims Demand Sharia Student Loans Because Paying Interest Goes Against Islamic Law
MAIL ONLINE: Muslim groups are calling for a separate student loan system because the interest due to be charged will conflict with rules of Sharia law.

The changes to tuition fees, which come into force next year, will see students charged higher rates of interest on the loans they take out to pay for university.

Until now they have paid the market rate of inflation but the reforms mean students who go on to earn more than £21,000 will have to pay interest of up to 3 per cent.

But in some interpretations of Sharia law, which is Islam's legal system and governs every aspect of Muslim life, loans are forbidden.

The National Union of Students has said it could be two years before an alternative system is worked out, leaving some Muslims fearing they cannot go on to further education.

The Federation of Student Islamic Societies told The Independent that the rate increase was a 'pressing issue'.

A spokesman said: 'Because the rate of interest is above the rate of inflation, it is quite blatant usury.' » | Daily Mail Reporter | Monday, January 22, 2011

BBC: Islamic Finance 'In Double Digit Growth'

Spotlight: Islamic Banking System
In times of financial crisis there is an alternative banking system, which has proved to be more stable, than the traditional, Western banking system. I mean - the Islamic banking. The financial systems in the Islamic countries, even in those, who were formerly Soviet republics - like Kazakhstan - are a real alternative, while the Russian business and science lacks necessary knowledge to adapt its finance to the severe conditions of the crisis.
We will be discussing this issue with our guests the Head of the Russian Islamic Committee Geidar Jemal and Financial analyst Sergey Aleksashenko

How Sharia Compliant Financial Products Work

Glenn Beck: An Introduction to Shariah Finance
Christopher Holton, the Center for Security Policy's Vice President for Administration, Marketing & Development, joins Glenn Beck to discuss Shariah Compliant Finance. Also in conversation is Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum. "Shariah: The Threat to America" includes an introduction to Shariah Compliant Finance, explaining the dangers of this trojan horse into our banking system

StanChart to Launch Islamic Commodity Derivative
REUTERS: DUBAI - Standard Chartered Bank Saadiq (STAN.L) expects to launch an Islamic commodity derivative in the first quarter, the bank's chief executive said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Reuters Islamic Banking and Finance Summit, Afaq Khan said the bank was in advanced discussions with counterparties in the Middle East, including trading companies and government entities, to launch the product.

"Basically if you want to hedge oil rice, wheat, sugar or steel, we will be in a position to offer that in a sharia complaint manner," he said.

Khan said the bank had spent about 15 months creating the product, which will be endorsed by the bank's sharia board. >>> Reporting by John Irish, Tamara Walid, Shaheen Pasha and Rachna Uppal; Editing by Louise Heavens | Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Shariah Finance

Dhimmitude! Das Vaterland Prostrates in the Direction of Mecca! Profits in the Name of Allah – Sharia Banking Comes to Germany
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Germany's Muslims are finally getting a bank offering financial products that comply with Sharia law. It is a market worth billions, and one that many major banks around the world have long discovered.

There are four million Muslims living in Germany. They eat, drink and pray in accordance with the precepts of the Prophet Muhammad. But when it comes to monetary transactions, the principles of the Koran have played hardly any role in Germany. That is about to change.

Early next year, the first Islamic bank in Germany to offer products that are in compliance with Sharia law will open its doors. The bank, Kuveyt Türk Beteiligungsbank, will open a branch in the downtown area of Mannheim, a city in western Germany, and branches in other cities are also planned.

The regulators with Germany's Federal Financial Services Authority, known as BaFin, recently issued a limited license to the subsidiary of a Turkish-Kuwaiti bank. It is only permitted to collect funds that are transferred to accounts in Turkey that conform to Islamic rules.

In other countries, the banking industry initially catered to Muslims on an equally small scale. But less than 10 years after first entering the market, all major banks in Great Britain now have Islamic divisions, and there are also five Islamic banks in the country.

The Prophet Muhammad's Prohibition of Interest

Worldwide, assets worth well over $700 billion (€470 billion) are now being managed in accordance with Islamic principles. In Germany, on the other hand, virtually no banks have so far even addressed this market.

The underlying concept of the Islamic banking business is the Prophet Muhammad's prohibition of interest. Like Jesus in the New Testament, Muhammad took action against the usurers of his time, who exploited their contemporaries by charging them exorbitant interest, sometimes well over 100 percent. Muhammad summarily prohibited charging interest unless something was provided in return. Since the 1970s, Islamic banks have sought to satisfy this requirement by offering their customers financial services on the basis of interest-free transactions.

Instead of interest, customers are promised a share in the profits of the bank. However, commercial activities can also be financed in which the Islamic saver collects a surcharge at a level similar to conventional interest.

Instead of taking out a loan to build a new factory, for example, a company would offer its investors a share of its profits. The important aspect of all of these transactions conducted in the name of Allah is that they are in fact based on a real exchange of goods or services. "The connection to reality must be clear," says Michael Saleh Gassner, a financial expert with the Central Council of Muslims in Germany.

Since the financial crisis, the principles of Islamic investors have also attracted the interest of conservative Christian investors. After all, the underlying concept seems so pleasantly removed from the speculative greed of Western financial executives.

Besides, the stock indexes that contain companies selected according to Islamic principles have sometimes outperformed comparable indexes without the religious association. Sharia-compliant banking transactions are "in a position to assume a global leadership role," says Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, president of the world's most populous Islamic country, Indonesia. No Investment in Gambling or Sex Trade >>> Christoph Pauly | Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Islamization of Wales: Shariah Finance
Image: Google Images
BNP: The Islamification of Britain continues unimpeded by voter objections to the colonisation of our country, with the latest development being the launch of an Islamic finance programme in Cardiff to help prepare “finance professionals” for the system.

The new programme, called the Islamic Banking Finance Centre UK (IBFC-UK), has been established in partnership with Islamic Banking & Finance Institute in Malaysia (IBFIM) and Cardiff University’s Business School and Centre of Islam.

Akmal Hanuk, chief executive of IBFC-UK was quoted in the media as saying that “The Islamic finance sector is expanding at an exponential rate and is now estimated to be worth $1.2 trillion globally and growing faster than any of the conventional banks, between 15-20 percent.

”We are very pleased to be one of the first organisations in Europe to address the growing demand of trained professionals in the Islamic banking and finance sector, as we want to make sure that the UK is at the forefront as this sector develops and that it stays there.

“We are also pleased that this initiative is coming out of Wales, which will enhance its reputation as one of the leading centres of training, skills and development.”

Leader of the fake Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, Ieuan Wyn Jones, who is also Welsh Assembly minister for the economy and transport, described the announcement as particularly significant for Wales.

“Despite the current global financial crisis, Islamic finance continues its growth as an increasingly viable alternative banking system.”

Plaid Cymru has an established record of promoting the Islamification of Wales, which is in marked contrast to its obviously false claim of protecting Welsh culture. For example, at a meeting during Plaid Cymru’s Spring Conference, ‘Muslims for Plaid’ launched a new website established by ‘Muslim members of Plaid Cymru’ since their campaigning group was established on 21st September 2006. The Islamification of Wales: Shariah Financial Services Programme Launched in Cardiff >>> BNP News | Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Dhimmitude Alert! Lloyd's of London Eyes Islamic Reinsurance
Educating Islamic Bankers: Dubai International Financial Center plans to set up a board to encourage education in Islamic finance, an industry that is likely to grow by 15 to 20 percent this year despite the financial crisis.

The Executive Director of Islamic finance at the DIFC Nik Thani, speaking at the 2009 Reuters Islamic Banking and Finance Summit in Dubai, says that with large conventional banks increasingly venturing into the Islamic arena, more educational and training resources are needed.

Thani says "this would be the minimum standard and from their we could build up to other things...including degrees in Islamic finance."

Speaker: Nik Thani, Islamic Finance Executive Director Dubai International Financial Center

Presenter: Ruben Ramirez, Dubai
REUTERS: LONDON - Lloyd's of London is setting up an Islamic re-insurance syndicate with a capacity of up to 200 million pounds to write Islamic compliant reinsurance globally, a PriceWaterhouseCoopers executive said on Tuesday.

Mohammad Khan, director for Islamic insurance, or takaful, at PwC, said the Lloyd's syndicate would include mainly financial institutions and to a lesser extent individual investors. It would become operational between the end of 2009 and the beginning of next year.

Financial consultant and accounting firm PwC is advising the financial group on the syndicate, he said at the Reuters Islamic Banking and Finance Summit in London.

Lloyd's of London was not immediately available to comment. >>> By Cecilia Valente | Tuesday, April 14, 2009

New Dark Age Alert! Shariah Bankers: West Ready for Faith-based Alternative
THE WASHINGTON POST: SINGAPORE | Backers of Shariah-compliant finance see an opportunity for expansion amid the global economic downturn, and some Western banks are welcoming this growing source of new business.

"Islamic bankers should do some missionary work in the Western world to promote the concept of Shariah banking, for which many in the West are more than ready now," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the World Islamic Economic Forum last month in Jakarta.

Such statements have given rise to fears that Shariah finance is a stalking horse for hidden political or religious aims. Shariah finance is an extension of Islamic law, pushing a faith-based alternative to Western banking.

Key Islamists who advise Shariah financial houses have called for full Shariah law to be adopted in Western countries and, in some cases, have made statements supporting terrorist groups.

Shariah finance means institutions and norms that fit with Islamic law. Fully compliant Islamic financial institutions are prohibited from interest payments and require transactions to be backed by tangible assets.

Speculation and hedge funds are off limits — ditto for anything connected to porn, gambling, alcohol or pork. Shariah finance targets Muslims who want to avoid what are deemed "un-Islamic" Western banks or financial practices, and appeals to clients' faith as well as their bottom line. >>> By Simon Roughneen | Monday, April 13, 2009

Dhimmitude! Outright Dhimmitude! Read This Article and You’ll Be Nauseated! Have the British Lost All Sense of What Once Made Them a Great Nation?
THIS IS MONEY: As borrowers and savers call for a fairer banking system, are the principals of Islamic banking the answer? We take a look at the Islamic Bank of Britain

Tired of hearing about fat cat bank bonuses when you have been a bank's loyal saver for decades and received nothing?

Well, there is a new bank in Britain offering out a share of its profits, not just to shareholders, but those who deposit savings into its coffers.

The main aim of the Islamic Bank of Britain is to offer 'Sharia compliant' ways of borrowing and saving for British Muslims, which are in tune with Islamic law.

Non-Muslim bank customers can also benefit from this as Sharia rules – based on ethical trading principles – mean ordinary customers benefit along with the bank in the good times.

But they can also lose if the bank starts to lose funds. Is Islamic Banking the Model for Fairness? >>> Alan O’Sullivan | Saturday, April 4, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Shariah Finance

Islamic Bankers See Sharia System Strengthening
THE GUARDIAN: JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - The global financial crisis is an opportunity for Sharia-compliant Islamic banking to further its position internationally, bankers said at a forum in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Islamic banks have been barely bruised by the global credit crisis so far, although falling property and commodity prices and slowing economies are starting to affect the sector.

But bankers at the forum, on how the world finance crisis could affect Islamic banking, saw the sector strengthening.

"It is a must for Islamic finance to seize the opportunity that came with this global financial crisis," Ahmad Ali, president of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) said at the discussion organised by IDB.

"Global investment banks should be set up that realise the Islamic economy and offer the world a new vision and different way to manage assets, invest wealth and create products." >>> By Asma Alsharif / Reuters | Saturday, October 25 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Shari’ah-compliant Finance
I should like to remind my visitors that anything of interest concerning Shari’ah-compliant finance generally appears on my other blog, The Shrewd Economist rather than on this blog, since that blog is for economics, banking, and finance. So please be sure to check out the blog frequently.

Jihad with Money
THE SPECTATOR – Melanie Phillips: Alex Alexiev on National Review Online sets out the reasons why sharia finance — described by Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi as ‘jihad with money’ — is a serious threat to the west:

The legitimization of sharia in the West and its gradual imposition in Muslim communities and beyond is a key objective of sharia finance, and there is no doubt it has already made huge strides. …

Notably, for those Muslims who cannot engage in physical jihad using force of arms, sharia requires that they support jihad financially. This is what sharia finance is all about.

Far from being a legitimate investment vehicle, sharia finance facilitates religiously sanctioned support for terrorist organizations — as well as providing radical Islamists with highly paid sinecures as sharia-finance board advisors in the sanctum sanctorum of capitalism, all the while that they are pursuing a subversive campaign to destroy it.

Predictably, none of this is even remotely disclosed by any of the dozens of Western banks promoting sharia finance today, which obviously exposes them to huge non-disclosure risks ranging from fraudulent misrepresentation, to material support for terrorism.

And not disclosed either by Gordon Brown, whose stated ambition is to make London the global centre of Islamic banking (reported to be yet another brilliant wheeze from Ed Balls). Of all the manifestations of the Islamisation of the west (see this piece by Dan Rabkin on the acceleration of Londonistan) sharia finance is perhaps the most deadly, because it effectively sells the west to Islam, and the most difficult to stop — because for the financiers and politicians in the west who are thus selling it, all they can see are the trillions of dollar and pound signs being dangled enticingly before their eyes. [Source: Jihad with Money By Melanie Phillips]

Cross-posted at The Shrewd Economist

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback)