A number of barriers remain in the expansion of the Islamic finance industry, including a lack of qualified Islamic bankers, weaknesses in financial reporting and transparency, and the issue of regulatory capital according to a KPMG survey conducted by the Economic Intelligence Unit (‘EIU’).The EIU conducted interviews with a number of leading figures on behalf of KPMG and the report entitled “Growth and Diversification in Islamic Finance” sought their views on the current and future development of Islamic finance. Included in the survey are case studies on HSBC Amanah and Unicorn Investment Bank which detail their experiences in this area.Respondents highlighted the following generic issues that the Islamic finance industry faces: Lack of young qualified Islamic bankers across all regions; while training is available and specific countries such as Malaysia are making huge investments in this area, respondents observed that high turnover remains a problem. Lack of development in Islamic finance regulations: many Muslim countries have not put the legislation in place covering the authorisation of Islamic banks, or the issuance of Islamic finance products. Nor have they considered putting it on the agenda. The quality and transparency of financial reporting on Islamic finance differs from one jurisdiction to another.
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