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“Assets held by Luxembourg domiciled
regulated and unregulated investment structures
are estimated at approximately USD 5
billion. One of the largest regulated Islamic
funds – SEDCO Capital Global Funds- is
managing in excess of US D 1.6 billion in a
Luxembourg Specialised Investment Fund
(SIF) since 2012.”
others will follow suit. Europe is an attractive
and promising market and Luxembourg is
best placed to serve it. Also, for corporate
customers, we are missing an Islamic bank
that can make the local connections in
Europe and help investors to diversify”,
concludes Marco Lichtfous.
Luxembourg
is the largest domicile for
Islamic funds in Europe
Jean-Michel Pacaud
“
”
Forecasts for 2015
Takaful: life insurance for highly mobile
champions
2015 is likely to see the opening of the first
Islamic bank in Luxembourg.
Marco Lichtfous, Partner at Deloitte
Luxembourg is the main advisor handling the
bank’s application file.
“The application of Eurisbank is currently with
the CSSF, Luxembourg’s Supervisory Authority,
and in the final approval stage”, he says.
Eurisbank will have its headquarters in
Luxembourg and will be the first shariah compliant
bank in continental Europe.
“The bank will serve an untapped customer
base of more than 20 million Muslims.
Conventional banks do not always appropriately
address their needs. Eurisbank will supply much
needed products and services”, explains Marco
Lichtfous.
“The second market that the bank is trying to
attract are ethical investors. After the financial
crisis, these clients have been disillusioned with
traditional banking practices and are seeking
more ethically sound banks.”
The bank will start off as a private bank. At a
later stage, the bank might add a commercial
arm and engage in retail banking, while branching
out in other countries such as the
Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium.
“Thereis still a lot of room for others to come in.
Competition is good as it drives innovation
and choice for the customers. We hope that
According to EY, the global takaful market is estimated
to continue its double-digit growth
momentum of about 14% in 2014. By 2017,
the global industry may reach over USD 20 billion.
Luxembourg was the destination of the first
European shariah compliant insurance company
in 1983. Takaful products took a long time to
gain traction but are now growing in line with
the market.
Today, Luxembourg takaful products are being
sold cross border into Germany and France, linked
to a range of investment funds and asset
management tools.
At the end of 2013, Vitis Life introduced its first
shariah compliant product for the French market,
in cooperation with the Independent Islamic
Finance Committee in Europe (CIFIE).
“The takaful products are of interest to ethical
investors and to wealthy Muslim clientele. They
answer to the needs of highly mobile clients like
athletes or top executives. The advantages of a
takaful life insurance contract subscribed in
Luxembourg is its portability associated with the
high level of international expertise of
Luxembourg life insurance companies”, concludes
Nicolas Limbourg, CEO of Vitis Life. LR
Communiqué par Luxembourg for Finance
Germain Birgen
Marco Lichtfous
Nicolas Limbourg
LG - Juin 2015
17