Hong Kong: Islamic Finance Getting There Little by Little
Bryant Edwards, Craig Nethercott and Nomaan Raja
Latham & Watkins
February 2013
With the platform for an Islamic finance offering in Hong Kong almost complete, what are the prospects for the growth of the Islamic finance sector in Hong Kong? Bryant Edwards, Craig Nethercott and Nomaan Raja ask whether the region has the capacity to foster an Islamic finance sector.
The Arabic exclamation ‘shwaya – shwaya’ (or ‘little by little’) comes to mind when one reviews the progress of Hong Kong towards establishing itself as an Islamic finance hub in Asia. Since 2007 Hong Kong has been focused on the need to develop a fiscal environment to encourage and sustain an Islamic finance offering. Meanwhile, the global sukuk market has continued its rapid growth with the value of sukuk issues in 2012 said to have reached over US$121 billion.
