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HSBC launches Islamic pension fund in the UK
14 May 2004
HSBC has become the first UK high-street bank to offer a pension fund that meets the requirements of Shariah (Islamic law).
The HSBC Life Amanah Pension Fund is the latest addition to a portfolio of products offered by HSBC Amanah Finance, the Group’s global Islamic financial services division, which was established in 1998 to provide Islamic alternatives to conventional banking.
HSBC’s new pension fund is available to UK employers, who can then offer it to their workers. It is designed so that it doesn't hold shares in certain industry sectors, including alcohol production or distribution, pork products, tobacco and conventional financial services. The fund is currently available only in the UK, but may be rolled out in other countries according to demand.
With a total population of more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, there is strong demand for financial products and services that conform to Shariah, which restricts the payment and receipt of interest and prevents some Muslims from investing in equities.
HSBC Amanah Finance currently offers Shariah-compliant personal financial services, such as home finance and bank accounts, in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Brunei, the UK and the US. It also offers Islamic services for corporate and institutional banking, such as liquidity management and cross-border trade finance.
To ensure that its products and services comply with Islamic investment guidelines, HSBC’s Shariah Advisory Committee, made up of eminent scholars in the field of Islamic finance, has helped develop a strict screening process. The committee reviews the operations of HSBC Amanah, supervises the development of Islamic products and determines Shariah compliance.
Although HSBC Amanah Finance’s services focus on the needs of Muslim customers, anyone can take up HSBC Amanah's products and services.
For more information, visit HSBC Amanah Finance’s website.
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