Islamic finance. THE newest federal cabinet minister, Chris Bowen, has set out an ambitious plan for Sydney to lure Islamic finance in a quest to beat the global recession and attract wealth and jobs.
In an interview with the Herald, the big winner from Kevin Rudd's ministerial reshuffle at the weekend also expressed concern about the conflicts of interest surrounding commission-based superannuation advice. He said that in an ideal world the compulsory employer super levy should rise from 9 to 15 per cent. NSW MPs were the big winners from the shake-up caused by the forced resignation of Joel Fitzgibbon as defence minister and the snap retirement of Bob Debus as minister for home affairs. Mr Bowen, 36, becomes the youngest member of the 20-strong cabinet, winning the dual post of Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, and Minister for Human Services. Islamic finance rides the storm. A thriving financial sector sounds like an oxymoron these days.
Even Australia's banks - among the most profitable in the world - kept a fifth of this week's interest rate cut to cushion their margins. But there is one sector that has tongues wagging in the hubs of commerce: Islamic finance. While the Western world's financial system has been imploding, this small but rapidly growing share of world capital has weathered the storm. Sharemarkets in London and New York are a third off their peaks. Dow Jones's Islamic financials index, in contrast, rose 4.75 per cent in the most recent September quarter and lost a modest 7 per cent in the previous year. Australia Eyes Islamic Finance Growth.