Islamic Finance in the United Kingdom: Current Initiatives and Challenges: A Short Report

The Islamic Finance Project of Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School held its third annual public lecture on Islamic finance at the London School of Economics’ Hong Kong Theatre in London on Thursday, 26 February 2009. As with previous years, the event was jointly hosted with the London School of Economics and immediately followed an intensive workshop earlier that day with a select group of Islamic finance’s industry elite. In front of a packed lecture hall of well over 200 people, the UK Secretary to the Treasury, Ian Pearson, announced the UK government’s intentions to postpone issuing its originally planned sovereign Sukuk. Much to the dismay of many in the industry, the UK minister ended any immediate hopes that Britain would lead the way with a historical and long awaited first sovereign Sukuk issuance. Citing reasons of unprecedent- ed economic times in a downturn unseen for generations and a failure to meet the UK Treasury’s ‘value for money test’, MP Pearson recanted earlier aspirations for what would have been the U