Special Report:Global Financial Crisis
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Dual listing is among the mode available for collaboration between Malaysia and Britain in the Islamic finance sector, Gatehouse Banks chairman Richard Thomas said here on Tuesday.
Britain is the center for Islamic liquidity and wealth management, while Malaysia is strong is Islamic bond market with 60 percent of the outstanding sukuk globally originating from the country.
Capital markets and cross border trade are among the areas in Islamic finance that both countries can collaborate, he said at the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum 2008.
"One of Bahrain's recent sukuk is co-listed in Britain," he said, adding that he foresaw such cooperation between Malaysia and Britain.
Collaboration between Malaysia and Britain has not been very strong in recent times and that there was a need to increase the dialogue, he said.
There has been an increase interest in Islamic Finance since the financial crisis in the conventional system, he added.
"I do think that Islamic finance or Islamic finance mortgage definitely will be more and more embraced in Britain. The government has future plans which go way beyond where we are today," Thomas said.
Among the driving force in the Islamic Finance in Britain is the significant number of Muslims in the country, he said, adding that as the conventional system leverages further, it would come closer to the Islamic finance model.
