After Dutch MP, Geert Wilders was declared "persona non grata" and deported from UK because his presence was threatening community harmony, I found that Times On Line published an article (which herroyalwhyness pointed out to me was written in March 2006) in which it was reported that British PM, Gordon Brown had:
given Muslim leaders private assurances that he wants to create a "level playing field" in the economy, so that more and more "sharia compliant" financial products can be offered to British Muslims.
so as to:
help make London the natural home for Islamic funds from around the world, and increase the inflow of investment from oil-rich Middle Eastern countries.
Why this is important now? Because in the present economic crisis, this phenomenon can spread to other countries, such as US:
American financial institutions report the losses that forced them to deplete their cash reserves, CEOs are begging for loans from oil-rich Middle East nations that have benefited from the rise in oil prices in recent years from $30 to nearly $100 per barrel. As one former Wall Street executive lamented, U.S. business leaders are “lining up to kiss the ring.”.
But of course, this would threaten free business in cases when they are in conflict with the Sharia. As Melanie Phillips puts it:
Acceptance of Sharia finance furthers the Islamist objective of gradually legitimising Islamic Sharia Law more generally in the west (...). The most important point to grasp is that Islam recognises no authority superior to sharia.
To know more about Sharia finance, check out the
Shariah Finance Blog.
5 comments:
Note original date of TimesOnline article referenced at the link:
March 12, 2006
which is sourced to:
Brown to boost Islamic banking
Brown has enjoyed an unihibited three year lead in to this "sharia compliant" crisis. . .
Barclays may lose control to Gulf investors
Shariah-Compliant finance masquerading as “ethical” investing
More at
Shariah Finance Watch.org
Oops, I saw it yesterday and I never get on to that detail... but thanks for pointing it out. :)
Anyway, in the link provided there are other links what are much more modern (in fact, from Feb 2009) to understand this threat. In fact, they are dealing with the present crisis and the possibility of an important part of the banking sector being bought out to Shariah investors.
Regards.
Gordon Brownnose Shoulld be reminded of BCCI,Bank of Credit and Commerce International which was a major international bank founded in Karachi, Pakistan in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a leading Pakistani financier.
The company was registered in Luxembourg. At its peak, it operated in 78 countries, had over 400 branches, and had assets in excess of US$ 20 billion making it the 7th largest private bank in the world by assets.
BCCI became the focus in 1991 of one of the largest scandals in world financial history. Due to the massive fraud and corruption at the heart of the bank, it was described as a "$20-billion-plus heist".
Regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom found it to be involved in money laundering, bribery, support of terrorism, arms trafficking, the sale of nuclear technologies, the commission and facilitation of tax evasion, smuggling, illegal immigration, and the illicit purchases of banks and real estate.
The bank was found to have at least $13 billion unaccounted for. The bank's relationship with underworld elements led to the nickname "Bank of Crooks and Criminals International."
Thanks, Shiva for that account.
Do you know if hawala was used by this Pakistani bank? In Spain the route of the Hawala has contributed to finance not only terrorist activities but also drug trade. It operates mainly through halal shops (meat, restaurants...) and it has no control from authorities, as the money transfers are not done directly but through paying debts someone has in other place with the man you're dealing with. That way the possibilities of masking the trasnfers rise.
Two links:
Hawala in Wikipedia.
The hawala alternative remittance system and its role in money laudering.
Nora, I dont really know, but at the time tere was not so much restrictions
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