Swiss risk losing Islamic goldmine
Plans by Arab partners to set up an Islamic private bank in Switzerland have highlighted a largely unexploited market of Muslim wealth based in Western countries.

by Matthew Allen
SwissInfo
April 3, 2008

http://www.islamist-watch.org/404/swiss-risk-losing-islamic-goldmine

Excerpt:

Many Swiss banks offer products that comply with Sharia law, but little is being done to tap into the $200 billion (SFr199 billion) of Arab funds being managed in Geneva, according to one asset manager.

The National Bank of Kuwait is reportedly teaming up with a Saudi Arabian partner to follow on the heels of Faisal Private Bank, which became the first such Islamic institution to set up in Switzerland in 2006.

But there are simply not enough financial products being created in the West for Muslim clients, according to John Sandwick, managing director of Swiss asset management firm Encore Management.

"There seems to be paralysis among the institutions in developing the Islamic asset management industry here," Sandwick told swissinfo. "There seems to be no enthusiasm to convert traditional asset management into Islamic wealth management, which only requires the introduction of Islamic products."

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