First Sharia Bank in Switzerland

From the desk of Paul Belien on Sun, 2006-10-08 16:14

Last month a Swiss referendum approved one the strictest immigration bills in Europe. The fact that immigrants are not welcome in the Alpine republic does not imply, however, that their money is not welcome. Last week the Swiss authorities granted a banking licence to Faisal Private Bank. The Geneva based bank will be the first in Switzerland to operate according to Islamic law (Sharia) principles. The latter prohibit usury, the collection and payment of interest, trading in financial risk, women opening bank accounts without their husband’s approval, etc. Sharia products also cannot be invested in companies involved in gambling, alcohol, tobacco, pornography and the production of pork.

A spokesperson for Faisal Bank, whose principal shareholder is the Bahrain based Ithmaar Bank, said the bank wants to “build bridges between Swiss private banking excellence and financial solutions based on ethics derived from Sharia. [...] This will enable us to deliver an innovative platform for an international clientele which trusts our private bankers because they are also accountable for their values.”

Swiss banks, including UBS, the country’s largest bank, have already opened branches in the Middle East, offering Sharia-compliant financial products to wealthy Arabs. Demand for such services has risen significantly in recent years. The International Association of Islamic Banks estimates that there are about 300 financial institutions specialising in Sharia banking, and that they hold assets worth around $300 billion.

Other European countries also have Sharia banks, but contrary to the Swiss bank, which will cater mainly to non-Swiss residents, these cater mainly to immigrants. One of the first was the Islamic Bank of Britain, established in 2004.

When transferring money to their countries of origin many Islamic immigrants in Europe use an illegal banking network called hawala. Hawala “banks” are operated by hawala brokers, usually small Muslim shopkeepers such as butchers and grocers. They also act as savings banks. The hawala brokers charge a commission which is lower than the charge for similar services by official banks.

Hawala “banks” also operate according to Sharia principles, refusing i.e. to invest in pornography and pork. Investment in terrorism seems to be less of a problem. According to Western intelligence services the hawala brokers play an important role in financing terrorism since part of the commission they charge their customers is sometimes used to sponsor organisations such as al-Qaeda.

Yesterday Ruud Peters, a law professor in Amsterdam and a Sharia expert, said at a conference in Amsterdam that Islamic law is gaining influence in Europe. This is not the case in penal law, he said, but in financial, contractual and inheritance law. He said that Muslims who want to borrow money in order to start a business can do so without having to pay interest. Dutch notaries are also registering a growing number of “Sharia wills” in which Muslims parents bequeath to their daughters only half of what their sons get.

This is a good first step in

Submitted by BitShifter on Tue, 2006-11-14 10:58.

This is a good first step in bridging religions. Not only does it exhibit equality and respect for religions, but also gives the opportunity for the religous gap to close by trading. Money may be the root of all evil, but in this case it may well prove to be the link towards religious harmony. I think more countries should follow this example. Maybe this can avert all belligerent eyes and turn them into dollar signs.

Islam, Hawala and European financial centers

Submitted by Flanders Fields on Tue, 2006-11-14 14:24.

The main financial interests of the world would love to do away with the Hawala. They love to see muslim anger directed at America, so long as they can bring the islamic finances within the control of the world financial interests which are primarily European based. The money principles of hawala are those that we should all live by, but we in the west are now under the firm grip of these centers to which they now want the islamics to submit.

If the Islamists ever figure out that it is these interests who are their real enemies, then their anger will be directed towards the right parties. That is why the Europeans do so much to act like they are appeasers and direct muslim anger toward the US. It is control of finances and not the control of oil that is of importance to the financial centers. If they control the finances, they control everything.

The financial centers love centralization. It makes control and administration of the masses by social engineering and propoganda much easier. It is only a matter of time before people with divergent viewpoints come into the circle of the financiers or suffer the consequences. They don't give a damn about islamists, Christians or Jews but about their own power and efficiency.

As of now, the Islamists are under control of the Islamic leadership. It is, in the view of the financiers, gaining control of the Islamist finances, then controlling the Islamist leaders. They will sacrifice western and islamic lives to obtain their goal and subvert the western way of life. Leftism has financial power and it should be apparent that it doesn't have it because of its unique money making capabilities, but because it is financed by those who want control.

Islamic law (Sharia)

Submitted by abc on Wed, 2006-10-11 03:28.

Islamic law (Sharia) principles are only found in Quran. The laws prohibiting usury, the collection and payment of interest, trading in financial risk, women opening bank accounts without their husband’s approval, etc are products of scientific studies of normal people in the past centuries (before google.com).

Ofcourse gambling, alcohol, tobacco, pornography and the production of pork are bad things according to human logic.

@Private Pigg

Submitted by Kapitein Andre on Mon, 2006-10-09 23:19.

I do not believe that a couple bombings constitute a takeover. Indeed, Poland survived centuries of partition, two world wars fought on its soil (incl. over 10 million fatalities and deportations), and 50 years behind the Iron Curtain as a Soviet "client" state...and somehow regained its self-determination, began adjusting to market economics, and was listed in the 1997 Oxford Atlas as being the most ethnically pure country in Europe.

 

So I am fairly confident that Europeans will survive a "civil war" or "state of emergency" with their Muslim population, or indeed with their non-European population in general.

 

In spite of some Socialist governments, the centre of gravity for European politics is moving rightwards, and the average European citizen, whether they are neo-con, neo-lib, or social democrat, is at breaking point w.r.t. current immigration policy.

I heard about the riots too....

Submitted by FLLegal on Mon, 2006-10-09 09:21.

I heard about the Muslims riots too and wanted to see if anyone else had as well. Yes me too from LGF and their links.

Oh how I wish the West would adopt a shoot and kill policy on any and all riots involving any violence or vandalism.

That would stop these riots real quick if a few hundred rioters were lying dead in the street.

In fact, I wish the West would ship them all out or kill them. I'd be a gentleman about it and give them a choice to leave first within 48 hours or face execution. Their choice...

Thank God in America we have the Constitutional right to guns. I remember a few years ago in Los Angeles there was widespread rioting and pulling people out of trucks to beat them to near death, I could not help but APPLAUD the Asian business owners up on the rooftops of their businesses shooting the rioters.

The police should be doing that....

Undecided on the matter...

Submitted by Kapitein Andre on Mon, 2006-10-09 03:05.

If Muslims wish to set-up Muslim financial institutions, then they should be allowed to do so, provided that: (a) these institutions and their clientele receive NO preferential treatment (i.e. interest-free loans from non-Muslim banks), and (b), that these institutions do not invest in prohibited areas e.g. the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, etc.

 

However, I can only see this leading to 2 banking systems that will result (if current conditions prevail) in preferential treatment for Muslim finance and banking.

Money Talks!

Submitted by Carmela on Sun, 2006-10-08 18:13.

If immigrants are not welcome in the Alpine republic, then neither should their money. The Swiss government needs to demonstrate more consistency and less hypocrisy.