The Islamic finance industry is rapidly evolving and expanding, with growth of banking assets estimated at $750bn and growing at a rate of 15% to 20% a year. Nabeel Shoaib explains.

Funding for RBS’ share of the ABN AMRO takeover has been secured with the largest ever Tier 1 capital securities issue. RBS director of capital management Ron Huggett talks to Edward Russell Walling.

For ABN AMRO’s pioneering property derivatives team the value of deals is mushrooming, but it is keen that other players enter the market and create greater liquidity. Joanne Hart reports.

Are the ‘irrational’ clients of Northern Rock the kind of customers rival banks should be opening their arms to, asks Joe DiVanna.

The current debacle over Northern Rock is going to lead to a complete rethink on markets and the way they are governed.

High standards of governance will be essential to convince local investors to participate in the regional financial centres that are springing up around the world. And London looks set to benefit from business with those centres as they adopt EU-style regulations, writes Brandon Davies.

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.

A new Islamic bank has opened for business in London, bringing the number of standalone, wholly Islamic banks in the UK to three. Is the market big enough? Michael Imeson reports.

Smoking in enclosed public spaces, including offices, is about to be made a criminal offence in England. The move is welcomed in many quarters, but employers whose employees break the law will be liable to pay much heftier fines than the errant employees themselves, writes Michael Imeson.

The establishment of a school for financial regulation in London should attract students from around the world eager to learn about the UK’s principles-based oversight model, says Mervyn Davies.