As the Islamic finance sector becomes more competitive, innovation will be a key differentiator for attracting customers, writes Joe DiVanna.

The UK budget for 2008 announced measures to promote competitiveness with the increasingly attractive Islamic finance sector, paving the way towards sukuk issuance, writes Stephen Timewell.

Saudi banks performed less well last year than in 2006 and bankers are adjusting to the lower, more sustainable growth levels, but they have every reason to remain bullish, writes Stephen Timewell.

Sheikh Hamad Al-Sayari, governor of the Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency, talks to Stephen Timewell about banking challenges, rising inflation, and planned currency union with the GCC states.

A boom in non-oil wealth looks set to accompany the continuing oil boom as huge projects get under way and economic reform continues, writes Stephen Timewell.

So-called ‘frontier markets’ hold no fears for some investors. Edward Russell-Walling reports on how broker-cum-investment bank Exotix went digging for profits in the zinc mines of Yemen.

Islamic finance is growing fast in the Gulf region as banks look for new growth opportunities, but it is also making inroads into non-Muslim markets, writes Stephen Timewell.

With $100-a-barrel oil creating abundant wealth in the Gulf, the spending power of governments, state-owned entities and private companies is changing the dynamic of the investment world, writes Nadine Marroushi.

Leumi Bank now leads Israel’s booming banking sector, despite the government’s protracted struggle to sell its controlling stake. David Lipkin reports from Tel Aviv.

The Top 25 country ranking of the Top 500 Islamic institutions clearly demonstrates that Iran, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are by far the three largest countries providing Islamic finance, with Iran’s total amounting to $154.6bn of sharia-compliant assets (SCAs) accounting for 30.9% of the global aggregate total of $500.5bn.