Islamic business accounts debut in UK

The first Islamic business bank account is to launch in the UK, reflecting growing global demand for Sharia-compliant financial services.

Lloyds TSB will offer the new account - which will not pay interest or have funds invested in certain industries such as gambling, alcohol or pornography - throughout its 2,000 strong branch network.

The new account could make Lloyds TSB the UK's biggest high street provider of Sharia-compliant banking products. It already offers an Islamic current account, student account, mortgage and investments funds to non-business customers.

The launch of the new account will target the estimated 10,000 businesses owned by Britain's Muslim community. Businesses with a turnover of up to £2m will be eligible for the account, and those with a higher turnover can take out a corporate account.

‘Muslim businesses are making a phenomenal contribution [...] through their creativity and incredible work ethic,' said the group's Truett Tate.

‘Britain is rapidly establishing itself as a centre of Islamic finance and Lloyds TSB has been at the forefront of this growth.'

Islamic finance is a booming sector worth billions of dollars worldwide.

Last week it was reported that a new Islamic ‘super bank', with more than $100 billion in capital to be raised within five years, is due to be established in Bahrain.

The bank is being spearheaded by the Bahrain-based Albaraka Banking Group (ABG).

'This is not the era of banks, it is the era of super banks and we will have one such entity in Bahrain in the near future,' ABG chairman Shaikh Saleh Kamel told a press conference recently.

Growth in ‘sukuk' - or Islamic bonds - is also on the rise. The Economist Intelligence Unit has reported that the $41 billion global market has been growing at 45% per annum since 2001. The Gulf region contributed $11 billion worth of issues, with another $9 billion planned before the year-end.

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