... ike a Muslim; he doesn't even look like a hotshot banker. With a sober shirt and understated manner, he looks more akin to an accountant. (In fact, he is a qualified actuary.) Wearily, he introduces himself as Geert Bossuyt - and rubs tired eyes. He has come off a flight from Dubai, where Deutsche Bank is building up a business on the back of the Middle Eastern oil boom.
"It is not so comfortable flying overnight, but it is efficient, so I do it," he explains in a flat tone of voice which partly reflects the fact that Bossuyt hails from the Flemish part of Belgium. At the same time, unlike many bankers, Bossuyt is not a man who exudes testosterone-fuelled aggression or enjoys the sound of his own voice; instead, he makes his points in a scrupulously polite manner.
Though so-called Islamic banks have been operating in places such as Malaysia and Dubai for some time, global bankers have traditionally viewed the sector as a small, exotic niche, focused on household investors. But in the past five years - since the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 - something extraordinary has occurred: behind the scenes, some western investment banks have increasingly started working with Muslim clejics to create a new range of financial products designed for devout Muslims. Under sharia law, Muslims are not allowed to receive interest on their accounts, or go into debt. The new Islamic banking products range from simple savings schemes or mortgages, to the type of complex capital mark ... подробнее