Pajamas Media » U.S. Government Embraces Islamic Banking
On November 6, 2008, the U.S. Treasury Department hosted a seminar on Islamic banking to train government employees on Sharia-compliant finance (SCF). According to a press release, it was “designed to help inform the policy community about Islamic financial services, which are an increasingly important part of the global financial industry.”
I eagerly await the new association of Islamic Hedge Funds. I wonder if they will permit Jewish money managers?
Submit to Stumbled Upon!
Why would an Islamic Hedge Funds need Jewish money managers? It would be in God’s hands, would it not?
It is already written.
“already written off”, maybe.
That said, I don’t know that a little training is totally out of the question. Sure, it’s a kooky religious restriction. But the truth is, “Islamic banking” pays interest just like any other kind of banking, only at a remove so that both parties can pretend they’re not violating their holy book in doing so. Just like other oddball financial constructs, it takes some education to tell exactly where the money is really going and when. I’d be less worried about offending their (frankly stupid) religious sensibilities than I would be about detecting scams and/or tax dodges hiding under the tent flap. It’s harder to retreat into public cries of “they’re oppressing my religion!” if the investigators know exactly what kind of stunt you’re trying to pull…
Theoretically (ie, according to the Koran, well-known “living document” adherence to halaal Islamic financial practice requires a gold standard. Good luck with that these days.