Outside Muslim majority countries in places such as China and Singapore, Islamic finance is garnering interest as a viable alternative to conventional banking, according to Business Bermuda’s CEO
Cheryl Packwood, Chief Executive Officer of Business Bermuda, revealed to Islamic Business & Finance that during a recent trip to China, she found that Islamic finance was the topic de jour. “In April we were in Shanghai and Beijing, when we mentioned Islamic finance; I was initially concerned knowing that Muslims are a minority, and also being a communist state religion isn’t something you’re necessarily supposed to put forward, but we talked about Islamic finance and there was a great deal of interest when we raised the subject.
“In Singapore when I spoke at the insurance conference I raised the fact that we were developing Bermuda as an Islamic finance centre and there was a great deal of interest – reporters came up afterwards and that’s all they wanted to know about,” she said on the sidelines of the 3rd World Islamic Banking Conference Asia Summit (WIBC: Asia).
“This [WIBC: Asia] is a big conference, the other conferences I’ve been to out here were relatively small compared to what’s going on here so there’s a great deal of interest and I am very impressed.”
“Islamic finance is beginning to be seen as an alternative way of doing finance, rather than an extension of the religion,” she added.
Packwood also commented on the double taxation agreement Bermuda signed with the Government of Qatar in May. “What’s very interesting about that double taxation agreement is a carve out for reinsurance. Qatar really wants to build its reinsurance industry and Bermuda is recognised as the largest reinsurance market in the world with all the expertise and capability so there’s a two-way avenue for reinsurance work. Obviously what comes out of that is the opportunity for ReTakaful and Takaful.”
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