U.K. Islamic bonds, Islamic banking in Kazakhstan, Malaysia and the GCC

Financial Times writer Farhan Bokhari editorializes on the benefit of a U.K. government sukuk. He argues:

"Muslim investors could use their newly found presence in a country such as Britain to promote the concept of Islamic finance to a more global audience. In spite of its spectacular growth, the concept remains misunderstood in many circles. Developing partnerships with academic institutions and mainstream professional bodies to promote sukuk and other Islamic finance concepts would help to address this lack of understanding."

This goal of creating understanding of Islamic finance is one of the primary goals of the Institute of Halal Investing.

There are a couple more details about the expansion of Islamic banking into Kazakhstan.

The second finance minister of Malaysia says that Bahrain, Qatar and the U.A.E. want to learn from Malaysia in implementing such a banking system.

Shari'ah Capital, an Islamic hedge fund, received a license to operate on the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

A conference will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on the "Fundamentals of Islamic Banking & Finance".

• This conference has been added to the IHI conference listing page.