§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what regulation there is to protect Muslims from mis-selling of housing finance that complies with Sharia law. [145720]
§ Ruth KellyI understand that some Islamic home finance arrangements may already fall within the definition of a regulated mortgage contract under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (SI/2001 No. 544) and would therefore be covered by the regime that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will be implementing from 31 October 2004.
However, as explained in paragraph 36 of the consultation document 'Regulating home reversion plans', we are seeking information on arrangements that are not reversion plans but which might nevertheless be caught by any legislative definition of a reversion plan if we decide to regulate home reversion plans. These might include alternative property financing arrangements that may be used by banks to provide housing finance which complies with Sharia law.