France’s parliament amended article 2011 of the civil code on September 17 to help the structuring of Islamic financial products in the country using the French equivalent of trusts.
Opposition groups concerned about the implications for France’s secular traditions resisted the move but the government is hoping to promote France as a centre for Islamic finance.
The French state has been working on an alternative instrument to sukuk for the issuance of Islamic debt, something that might require further legal changes. There has also been more talk of an unnamed French financial institution issuing Islamic debt.
