Islamic finance in Europe (6)

Continuation

SUMMARY

As observed in Section 2, Islamic finance has developed significantly over the years.

Now this is a noticeable part of the international financial system.

The value of Islamic financial assets worldwide increased:

-      from USD 150 billion in the mid-1990s;

-      to an estimated USD 1.6 trillion by end-2012.

Islamic banking continues cover approximately 80% of total Islamic financial assets.

This is for dominating of the global Islamic finance industry.

Five prominent Gulf States, of which:

§  Iran

§  Saudi Arabia

§  the United Arab Emirates

§  Kuwait

§  Qatar

as well as countries in South-East Asia (most notably Malaysia) account for most of the Islamic banking market.

From the research paper of European Central Bank

(Authors: F.Mauro, P.Caristi, S.Couderc, A.D.Maria, L.Ho, B.K.Grewal, S.Masciantonio, S. Ongena and S.Zaher)