Excerpt:
Islamic finance has existed in Europe for more than forty years, with the United Kingdom one of the world's leading countries in the field, and others, such as Malta and Luxembourg, also at the forefront. In Italy, where the sector is more or less non-existent, results of the first experiments are now beginning to be seen.
In 2009, for instance, Deloitte set up a sector dedicated to Islamic finance. "At the moment, we are developing products compatible with Italian regulations," says Alberto Liotta, a director at the consultancy firm, a guest at a conference organised by Islamic Relief Italia. "Attention is mainly focussed on conventional financing instruments, such as leasing, the concept of which can be brought closer to those of Islamic finance".