In the European context, some additional drivers can be identified: on the demand side, the growing resident Muslim community potentially requesting more retail banking services, and on the supply side, an improved know-how on the part of European intermediaries, together with the already mentioned attractiveness of some financial markets for the investment of Gulf countries’ liquidity, and the potential use of Islamic finance products to broaden funding sources to finance public debt.
The question of public debt financing takes us to the subject of another Session – Session 3 – where the issuance of sukuk bonds, whose total outstanding volume reached $ billions in 2012, will be discussed, together with their increased role in international capital markets.