SHARIA FINANCE CREEPS INTO JAPAN

The Japanese government has taken a small but important step toward introducing Islamic finance here amid the global financial crisis triggered by unsustainable subprime loans in the United States. Earlier this month, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) amended financial regulations to let bank subsidiaries handle Islamic finance operations.

The Islamic finance market has become increasingly attractive for Japanese, having already grown to about $1 trillion with a potential to reach an estimated $4 trillion. Obviously, "oil money" has been undermined by the global financial crisis. Yet the latest push forward by the FSA strongly suggests that Japan has a growing interest in Islamic finance as a competitive way to attract huge amounts of petro-funds.

Last year, the Japanese government revealed its Asia Gateway Initiative, which includes the promotion of Islamic finance as a method to develop the Asian bond market. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry also touched upon Islamic finance in last year's White Paper on Trade. Other countries, like Britain and Singapore, are way ahead of Japan in the field, having made moves to use Islamic finance to enhance their own financial markets.

Bringing in oil money...

Yoshihiro Watanabe, managing director of the Institute for International Monetary Affairs, said the significance of Islamic finance is "to bring in oil money to Japan and stimulate the Japanese economy."

Etsuaki Yoshida, deputy division chief at the Policy and Strategy Department for Financial Operations at the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), is known as one of the few specialists in Japan.

"Although this is my personal view, the current (global) situation actually heightens the relative significance of getting involved (in Islamic finance)," he said.

Although only a few books on Islamic finance have been published in Japan, Yoshida has already written two of them.

Experts acknowledge that Islamic finance is also important for starting projects in the Middle East and can serve to enhance the Asian bond market.

Despite the various barriers remaining in Japan, the private sector has been participating in a number of overseas projects through Islamic financing methods. This year, a Mizuho Corporate Bank subsidiary in the Netherlands became a lead manager of a syndicated loan for a Saudi Arabian project to mine and refine phosphate ore. Part of the loan was made through Islamic financing.

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MUSLIM GANGS SHOW INSPIRATION

In Great Britain where the euphemism for Muslims causing trouble is enlarged in declaring them Asian (since many of the British Muslims are of Pakistani roots), here's more astounding behavioral malfeasance by young Mohammedan thugs who like to play hard and they play for keeps. Thanks Fred for the clip:

There is a serious problem in the North of England with our disadvantaged “Asian” (apologies to the Chinese and Indians) ripping off motor insurance. I could fill pages of cases but essentially a car load of Asians target a lone white person and at an opportune moment cause an “accident”. The victim is then confronted by four men saying it is their fault and screaming at them for their for their stupidity. If four is not enough mobiles are then used to summon up even more “cousins”.

A relative who was hit on a supermarket carpark found herself surrounded by first four and then about 12 men, which for a slightly built school teacher of 60 was quite unpleasant. The only people to offer help were a group of English students one of whom quietly approached her and said they would wait and watch until she was able to leave. With that number of “witnesses” she had no hope and it cost her £3000 which was not a bad hours work for the Asians.