How the West Came To Run Islamic Banks; Giants like Citigroup dominate the sector, through Islamic subsidiaries and hired Sharia scholars.

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 31-OCT-05

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Byline: Owen Matthews

You're a pious Muslim with a few million in oil dollars to invest. So would the perfect Islamic bank for you be Citigroup, perhaps? HSBC?

Actually, yes. Giant Western banks--or, rather, their Islamic subsidiaries--are leading the market for financing that complies with Qur'anic laws forbidding lending money for profit, or sponsoring un-Islamic activities such as gambling or smoking. Citigroup's Bahrain-based Citi Islamic subsidiary was first into the market in 1996, and now leads the pack with deposits of more than $6 billion. Citi and at least 10 other Western majors dwarf the biggest locally owned rival, Al Baraka of...

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