The decision by the UK Treasury to press ahead with its plans for the launch of the west's first government sukuk, and only the fourth sovereign issue of this kind in the world, underscores the government's commitment to establishing the UK as the dominant Islamic financial centre in this time zone. A UK government sukuk could be used to create sharia-compliant National Savings products for Muslim investors in Britain, thereby strengthening financial inclusiveness for the Muslim community. By pioneering the market and dealing with the legal, tax and other structural issues that have been potential impediments to the market's development, the government is laying the groundwork for corporate and other issuers to issue their own sukuk bonds in the future.
Sukuk bonds represent an attractive means by which companies can diversify their funding sources - of particular importance given the global credit squeeze - and access a previously largely inaccessible liquidity pool of Middle East investors. The market has grown from virtually nothing in 2002 to almost $40 billion of new issuance in 2007, and is expected to grow at a rate of 10-15% a year for the next three to five years.
This important conference, which is being held three months after the close of the Government's consultation, will provide a timely opportunity to review the progress that both the Government and the market are making towards making London the leading centre for sukuk issuance and trading in this time zone. A speaker panel of quite exceptional quality will examine both the challenges that remain and the opportunities that are rapidly emerging.
Attendance at this one-day summit will be useful for all those involved in London's capital markets, including issuers, investors, intermediaries and advisers.
£675
$1362
€881 
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