Join the FIIF

Take an active part in the development of Islamic finance in France!
Join the French Institute for Islamic Finance!

In the past few years, France has entered the race of Islamic finance.
Paris is about to rank among "the most attractive markets for Islamic investors"! To ensure their growth our companies have now the opportunity to be funded by Islamic investors and financials… And our local authorities, regions, departments and major cities will soon be able to associate them to their infrastructure projects…
This cooperation between Islamic finance and the fabric of the French economy is a historical chance.
Nevertheless, this opportunity can only be seized if both parties are able to draw together new synergies.
In legal terms, despite the tremendous work carried out by the French legal community, much progress remains to be done in the development and the evolution of our law, which can be achieved through a close and consistent cooperation between French jurists and jurisconsults, French and Islamic regulation authorities.
In terms of banking engineering and takaful, the common work between jurists and jurisconsults has already led to very promising progress, demonstrating huge opportunities for innovation and new convergence in order to establish a "common world".

For historical reasons and because of its geographical proximity, our country has a key role in the achievement of this "common world". In order to build a new bridge between the Muslim world and the West and to become a key player in the development of global finance, our country must become quickly a center of excellence in Islamic finance training, in innovation research and in complementarity between conventional and Islamic finance. This could be achieved through the combination of Islamic banking, participatory banking and SRI.

With this ambition, my teams and myself have taken the initiative to create the French Institute for Islamic finance. It aims to promote and help the development of Islamic finance, in France and in the world, and to help Paris to become one of the most attractive place for this finance industry, with its dynamism and its ability to innovate. The Institute also aims to mobilize the financial resources of Islamic investors in favor of French companies and local administrations.

Its "Training & Expertise department" aims to create, develop and update training programs about the Economy of the Muslim world and the industry of Islamic finance. These programs are recommended for professionals of finance companies, company leaders, local officials and financial managers of local administrations.

Its "Research and documentation" department of the Institut aims to organize and promote, nationally and internationally, exchanges between professionals of the Islamic and conventional finance industry, lawyers and jurisconsults, academics and researchers.
The Institute will focus on the dual objective of coordinating and refining, for a greater legal certainty, the necessary progress to be made in matters of regulation and compliance with the combined requirements of the Sharia and of the prudential and accounting standards.
The challenge remains to develop modern financial products which would be competitive with conventional products (in terms of ethics, but in terms of risk and profit-and-loss sharing as well) and also complementary to them, particularly in mounting joint development projects, and not only in the Muslim world!

Since the announcement of its creation, the French Institute for Islamic Finance has received support from major Islamic international organizations (Islamic Development Bank, ICD, IRTI, AAOIFI…) and French organizations (Agence Française de Développement, Paris Europlace, …). A growing number of major companies are supporting us.
But I deeply believe that the Institute has to draw its strength from its ability to mobilize - individually - the highest number of men and women who believe in a "French Islamic finance", as a means of competitivity and development, a new engine for our economy and our territories, and an ethical alternative for millions of French of any faith or religion.
The Institute will remain at your service, whoever you are: professionals and entrepreneurs, academics, researchers and students, who would like to work together and to reaffirm a shared commitment to synergy, and who refuse to fall back on entrenched positions and to believe in the illusion of a doctrinal or dogmatic protectionism.
It is your personal commitment, that of thousands of "founding members", which will establish the real legitimacy of the Institute and prove the ability of Islamic finance to gather and unite hopes and skills for a common goal of participatory and responsible development in a "common world".

Hervé de Charette

Thank you for printing and filling in the membership form below (PDF version) and send it along with your check to the following address:

Institut Français de Finance Islamique
250 bis, boulevard Saint Germain
75007 Paris
France