Deutsche Bank Unveils Blueprint for Islamic Finance

- A new white paper detailing a model investment structure for Sharia-compliant securities has been unveiled by a leading global investment bank.

Deutsche Bank hopes its white paper will be adopted by other financial institutions to help "alleviate" supply shortages in the Sharia-compliant investment market, allowing it grow and meet the needs of consumer demand.

Geert Bossuyt, managing director, regional head of ME structuring, said the company is "confident" that the model will prove to be a "significant milestone" in opening up new asset classes to the Islamic finance industry.

Companies can stand to gain significantly from adopting Sharia-compliant investment structures as they will be "recognized for their hard work and ideas", he explained.

"Sharia itself has inherent flexibility and fewer constraints than is often assumed by the financial services industry," Mr Bossuyt remarked.

He concluded by saying that "fundamental research" is needed in order to release the "full potential" of the sector and allow investors to exploit the "inherent flexibility" of Sharia-compliant investment.

In a speech to last year's Muslim Council of Britain Islamic Finance and Trade Conference, Financial Services Authority chairman Callum McCarthy stated that the regulator is "determined" to continue the development of Islamic finance products in the UK, afforded by "fair and reasonable regulations".

London Stock Exchange