Islamic Banking
13 August 2004 Warren Edwardes interviewed by Jon Boone and Kate Burgess of The Financial Times.
"The retail Islamic banking market in the
European Union of about 10 million is too substantial a market to
ignore." says Warren Edwardes, CEO of financial innovation and risk
consultancy Delphi Risk Management. "Only a few years ago several pure
internet banks were launched. Established banks saw this threat and
established internet operations as just another delivery channel. The
approval of The Islamic Bank of Britain is sure to galvanise
conventional banks in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands to
establish their own retail Islamic Banking operations. "
Edwardes, a governor of the London based Institute of Islamic Banking &
Insurance says that "London has long been a centre for Islamic banking
innovation and will continue to be so alongside Bahrain, Dubai, Kuala
Lumpur / Labuan and Kuwait. However, the positive support of the FSA and
the Bank of England may be counterbalanced by a negative war related
political fallout."
Interview with Jon Boone
"A major problem for Islamic banks is
the lack of liquid instruments along with the difficulty in managing
rate risk." feels Warren Edwardes CEO of financial innovation and risk
consultancy Delphi Risk Management and a Governor of the Institute of
Islamic Banking.
"Islamic banks investing in long-term assets are faced with a problem in
that most of their deposit liabilities are very short-term leading to a
massive liquidity problem. Liquidity management tools that are both
flexible and undeniably Shari'ah compliant are lacking. Although Sukuks
can be traded most are held to maturity. This lack of market liquidity
is often seen as the major constraint to the development of an
integrated Islamic financial system.
In terms of Asset / Liability Management there is a hedging problem for
institutions that lend long term at fixed yield through Ijaras (easing)
and finance through short term and therefore variable yield accounts.
There is thus a pressing need for Islamic derivatives to address this
gap problem. But most derivatives are deemed to be not Shariah compliant."
Warren was previously on the board of Charterhouse Bank and has worked in the treasury divisions of Barclays Bank, British Gas and Midland Bank. He first researched into what were later to be called "derivatives" in 1975 and was part of the team that executed one of the world's first currency swaps in 1981. Since then he has devised and transacted numerous structures that form part of the history of derivatives. Warren can be contacted via we@dc3.co.uk
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