More Islamic banks and financial products have been launched worldwide since late in 2008 despite the global banking crisis that restricted conventional banks from doing so.
Joseph DiVanna, managing director of UK-based consulting and advisory firm Maris Strategies, said in last month's issue of The Banker that Shariah-compliant banks were performing better than conventional banks.
Islamic banks focus on ethical investing; speculative financing and trading is forbidden. This makes Islamic banks highly dependent on customer deposits for their liquidity.
"This in turn makes them less susceptible to changes in credit markets," according to DiVanna.
"Islamic banks were generally not impacted by collateralised debt obligation or asset backed securities," DiVanna said.
Since November 11, new Islamic banks had been formed, including the United Arab Emirates' first Islamic commercial bank, the Ajman Bank.
DiVanna added that while banks in the developed world had curtailed their expansion, 23 Islamic banks had extended their operations into new countries such as Botswana, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Africa, Sudan and Syria.
Qatar National Bank opened a full-service branch in Singapore and the Arab Bank opened a branch, specialising in Islamic banking, in Qatar.
South Africa has been offering Islamic banking since 1989 and all big four banks are developing or offering Islamic products.
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