Regulatory and Legislative Landscape for Islamic Financial Institutions: the Case of Italy

Abstract

The paper examines the regulatory accommodation process of Shari'a-compliant financial institutions within the Italian legal framework.The paper is divided into four sections. The first two sections adopt a business-based approach drawinga comparison between the Islamic and the Italian banking models in terms of institutional and functional requirements. The third section suggests that Shari'a rules and, as a result, Shari'a-compliant financial operations, represent a cultural phenomenon, where "cultural" means that Islamic finance is a set of ways of thinking and behaving which every Muslim endorses step by steps thanks to the educational process.In the conclusions it is argued that the Italian legal system poses no formal hurdles to the accommodation of Islamic financial entities.

Islamic Finance and Economic Development: The Impact of the Islamic Finance Sector on Indonesia’s Economic Development

“…For example, in a country that does not have a large Muslim population, such as Italy, which is a Muslim minority, a special strategy is needed to implement an Islamic financial system and the opportunities to be taken are minimal compared to countries that practice Islamic ideology. 12 The presence of Islam provides fresh air in realizing a just economic system, 13 by having knowledge, innovation is considered the main driver for economic development.…”

Keuangan Islam dan Pertumbuhan Ekonomi

“…Diantara faktor yang sangat dominan dalam menetukan pertumbuhan ekonomi adalah idiologi, sebab idiologi memberikan makna yang mendalam bagi manusia yang akan melaksanakan system perekonomiannya. Sebagai contohnya adalah salah satu negara yang tidak banyak penduduk muslimya seperti Itali yang muslinya minoritas, maka diperlukan strategi khusus untuk menerapkan system keuangan Islam dan peluang yang akan diambilpun sangat minimal dibandingkan dengan Negara yang menjalankan idiologi Islam (Gimigliano, 2014).…”