This pig will never fly, no matter how much lipstick they put on it:
Sharia-compliant banking products a ‘huge flop’ in Britain

Junaid Bhatti, part of the team that set up Islamic Bank of Britain, the first Sharia-compliant bank approved by the Financial Services Authority, says that the sector has been a big disappointment.
“As we now approach the sixth anniversary of IBB’s launch, I’m sad to finally have to admit that Islamic finance in the UK has been a huge flop,” he said. “IBB may still be limping on as probably the last bastion of the cause, but it’s difficult to imagine it holding out for much longer.” Â Â The Wall Street Journal has the story>>>
Sharia finance and Australia
Australian Assistant Treasurer Senator Nick Sherry
Australian official promises “steps to ensure Islamic finance is enabled”
by Bill Muehlenberg/Quadrant Online
June 10, 2010
All over the Western world governments are bending over backwards to accommodate sharia finance. This is an interest-free (?) banking and finance system which Muslims want to have run in Western nations as a parallel economic stream.
The UK leads the world in this, but Australia and other nations are seeking to get their share of the action. Consider a speech made by Australian Assistant Treasurer Senator Nick Sherry on April 27 in Doha, Qatar. He told his Muslim audience how keen Australia is to embrace sharia finance.
Let me quote a portion of Sherry’s speech:
On 15 January this year, the Government released the final report of this process, known as the Australia as a Financial Centre (or the Johnson Report). The report concluded that Australia has arguably the most efficient and competitive financial sector in the Asia-Pacific region, but there are further opportunities to expand our exports and imports of financial services.
And it made a range of important recommendations, including specific steps to ensure Islamic finance is enabled in Australia. And that’s exactly what I now want to address. The competitiveness of Australia’s financial services sector offers great opportunities for Islamic banks and financial institutions to do business in our country, or to export their products to Asia from a strong, stable and extremely well regulated regional base.
Continue reading Suckers for Sharia Finance