Understanding UK bank strategies can be difficult. The past year has seen not only Royal Bank of Scotland’s joint acquisition of the Netherlands’ giant ABN AMRO but also the disastrous run on Northern Rock, record 2007 profits at HSBC Holdings and, last month, RBS’s first half-year loss in 40 years, following $11.4bn in writedowns.
The market for Islamic banking is forecast to grow at double the rate that conventional wholesale banking will grow in the next five years. Unsurprisingly, banking centres around the world are scrambling to establish footprints in the market. Natasha de Terán investigates how London is positioned.