Is moving into Islamic finance such a good idea?
Islamic finance courses have been popping up in the UK over the last couple of years, and an increasing number of bankers with conventional backgrounds are looking to get in on the act. But the industry has not been immune to problems and it’s debatable whether there are that many job opportunities at the moment. “A lot of Islamic banks were looking to the UK as a wholesale centre in order to develop the industry,” says Ken Eglinton, head of the Islamic Financial Services Group at Ernst & Young in the UK. “The City has a number of strengths to play to – innovative products, secondary markets, benchmark prices and indices, asset finance and structuring. However, the crisis has knocked London’s reputation, meaning France and Singapore have attempted to steal a march as an Islamic finance centre.” London is home to four Islamic investment banks – including Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME), Gatehouse Bank and the European Islamic Investment Bank – and a retail bank, Islamic Bank o
