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Stephen Hall is Tax Partner at Deloitte »It may be some time before Islamic laws become widely accepted by British society as requested by the Archbishop of Canterbury. However, Sharia law is already alive and kicking on these shores in the finance sector.
As the Muslim population of Britain grows, so too does the demand for Sharia-compliant finance packages. The basic characteristics of Islamic insurance and banking services are that you can't earn or pay interest on loans. Also, money can only be invested in worthy causes - this is similar to the western concept of socially responsible investing.
But these finance packages are not purely reserved for specialist Islamic banks. They are fast becoming a lucrative business for global banking giants.
I spent some time working in the Middle East where the major trend was that more and more Western institutions such as Axa Insurance and Barclays were turning their attention towards the rewards of Islamic finance.
There's no doubt this trend has already reached Britain and it may only be a matter of time before every bank on the high street has realised the benefit of catering for Muslim customers.
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