First Islamic Finance Summit in Germany

Islamic Finance is moving forward in Europe rapidly. Recently the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany has decided to issue Europe's first Islamic bond.

In the UK the application of the Islamic House of Britain for a fully fledged Islamic bank in London is in progress and expected to be granted in the near future. Both subjects are highlights of the first Islamic Finance Summit in Frankfurt.

Axel Guehl, Head of Treasury at the Ministry of Finance for the state of Saxony-Anhalt, will give an insightful view about the Sukuk bond they have structured. Waheed Qaiser, Head of Retail Banking Islamic House of Britain, will report about the foundation of the first European Islamic bank, which should have received its license by this time.

The summit is lead sponsored by Dow Jones Indexes. Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Director of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes, views the
summit as a very timely project due to three major trends: firstly, the desire of many western financial institutions to create Islamic products in Europe for the Middle Eastern and South East Asian markets.

Secondly, it reflects recent efforts to develop financial products, which appeal to the almost untapped potential of the Muslim communities in Europe itself; and finally the non-Muslim crossover due to parallel systems of beliefs and superior performance or reduced costs such as mortgages.

The conference concept takes these trends into account, bringing together a selected audience of decision-makers from financial institutions and professional services from both sides: the Islamic financial industry and their European counterparts.

Top level representatives of European Islamic communities have also been invited to the event in order to represent the unmet needs of the local European Islamic markets.

The unique networking opportunities offered at the conference should evidently help to close the gap between demand and supply in relation to
Islamic financial services. New entrants to the market will be given the opportunity to establish a foothold, while established players will have the chance to update themselves on the latest trends in Islamic finance from a European perspective.

The first Islamic Finance Summit has been organised by ecmg AG, a corporate finance consultancy headquartered in Essen, Germany and with representative offices in Dubai and Singapore. ecmg AG raises capital for companies and investment funds in the Middle Eastern and Asian markets.