BBC News - What is 'Islamic finance'? 14 March 2013 Last updated at 10:31 Help This week, the government launched a campaign promoting London as a centre for Islamic finance. The aim is to counter growing competition in this industry from rising centres such as Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. Hamid Yunis - head of the Global Islamic Finance Group at international law firm Taylor Wessing - told the Today programme: "Islamic finance is generally business dealings in accordance with Islamic principles. I think a good comparison is to those in the market who are playing in the ethical banking field. There are a number of principles, the most commonly known being no interest on business dealings - so money is invested, and interest is not charged. Also, the investments are designed not against speculation, against gambling - in line with the prohibition against gambling. And essentially, you know the asset you're going to be investing into, and the transaction you're going to be investing into.