The Faculty of Economics and Business UMSU held an international webinar on the topic “The Development of Islamic Banking and Finance in Europe and Italy” (Development of Islamic Banking & Finance in Europe and Italy) with Prof. Paolo Biancone from the University of Turino, Italy, and moderated by Zulfikri, SE., MBA, FEB UMSU lecturer, Tuesday (18/10/2022).
The event was opened by the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business, Mr. Januri., SE., MM., M.Si and continued with presentations from the speakers. What is interesting about this Webinar is that it is held live from three different places, namely Italy, Oman, and Indonesia. This Webinar was attended by 170 participants consisting of UMSU lecturers and students.
In this Webinar, resource persons explained the history of establishing and developing Islamic banks in Europe such as Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK. According to Prof. Paolo Bianconce, the establishment of Islamic banks in several European countries stems from the arrival of Muslim immigrants to several European countries around 1945.
The migrants came from Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Algeria, Yemen, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Due to the relatively high birth rate of immigrants, the Muslim population in Europe is increasing. Currently, the country in Europe that has the largest Muslim population is France, followed by Germany.
However, the beginnings of Islamic finance in Europe only began around the early 2000s.
To this day, the UK is experiencing the most rapid development of Islamic finance among European countries. This is marked by the existence of 26 Islamic banks in the country with a Muslim population of 4.13 million in London. In addition, the UK has started Islamic finance since 1980.
Meanwhile, France started around 2007 by implementing sharia law in banks, then Germany was the first country in Europe to enter the Islamic capital market. In Italy, in 2006 introduced a Murabaha contract for buying and selling houses.
However, unfortunately, even though Islam is the second largest religion in Italy, the development of Islamic finance in this country has not been very developed due to contracts that are too heavy and not regulated properly.
