Scotland “ideally placed” to become a key player in the £37trillion ethical finance sector

The inaugural two day Global Ethical Finance Forum (GEFF), organised by Dubai based ME Global Advisors in conjunction with the Glasgow-based Islamic Finance Council UK (IFC), is being officially hosted by the Scottish Government.

Keynote addresses will be delivered by Keith Brown MSP and Lord Sheikh as well as high profile international speakers His Royal Highness Emir Muhammad Sanusi II (former Governor of the Bank of Nigeria), and Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Bank of Malaysia.

The ethical finance debate in Scotland has centred on the IFC’s Edinburgh Ethical Finance Round Table (EFRT) series which has become the UK’s leading ethical finance discussion platform.

According to Sir Ewan Brown, Chairman of Scottish Financial Enterprise, the round table events have “commanded support across the UK and beyond – perhaps unsurprising, given Scotland’s long history of creating financial services. Scotland is therefore ideally placed to facilitate the wider ethical finance discussion.”

A direct output of the EFRT series has been the establishment of a Government-backed steering group tasked with assessing the feasibility of establishing a Scottish Ethical Finance Hub which would facilitate commercial investment, R&D and thought leadership as required for developing and testing ethics-based models of banking and finance, and enhance international engagement.

IFC Advisory Board member Omar Shaikh said: “Strong asset management community, world class academic institutions and socially inclusive local Government policies collectively makes Scotland ideally placed to contribute to the global ethical finance sector. As part of that international engagement hosting events such as GEFF sends a positive signal to the world that Scotland is open to the business opportunities associated with ethical finance.”

ME Global Advisors Chairman Ehsan Abbas said that a key factor in selecting Edinburgh for GEFF, is due to Scotland’s “immeasurable contribution to the creation of financial institutions and early professional bodies specialising in ethical finance.”

The long-term aim of the forum is to support the development of common practices and ultimately promote the adoption of global standards in the industry. The first event will explore ideas for bridging the various disconnected segments in the ethical finance industry which are currently separated by perceptions or geographical differences.

Topics include: building a responsible financial system that supports real economic development; opportunities, challenges and risks; convergence if the different spheres of ethical finance; the role of Islamic finance in the ethical space; and the influence of technology and disruptive innovation to facilitate responsible finance.

Scotland’s Infrastructure Secretary Keith Brown added: “The growing awareness and interest in ethical finance across the world presents opportunities for Scotland. Sustainable, responsible investment is the correct route to economic recovery and our policy of inclusive growth is already being recognised internationally by economists and academics.

“The Scottish Government believes that tackling inequality and strengthening the economy must be done hand in hand: economic growth must not be at the expense of fairness. It is a challenge, but one we are determined to rise to.”