The Bank of Mauritius will hold a conference on t he prospects of the development of a capital market based on the principles of t h e Sharia on 19 and 20 May in Pointe-aux-Piments, northern Mauritius, PANA learnt from sources at the bank.
The governor of the bank, Rundheersingh Bheenick, said Friday that Islamic Finan ce is in full effervescence.
“There are many opportunities to seize,” Bheenick said, adding that the necessar y legal and regulatory set up is already in place in the island.
He said that Islamic finance has emerged as a multi-million dollar industry in g lobal finance.
“The current global crisis has brought into sharper focus, the in-built resilien ce of Islamic banking to market excesses arising from uncontrolled financial eng i neering,” he emphasised.
He stated that as an international financial centre, Mauritius has changed its l egislative framework to accommodate Islamic banking.
“We have approved two applications for full-fledged Islamic banks from reputable companies eager to set up shops in Mauritius. We are presently considering appl i cations from existing banks proposing to run Islamic financial products,” he ann o unced.
According to the governor, the conference will bring together about 200 local an d foreign businessmen, bankers, legal and accounting professionals, policy maker s , regulators and academics.
