Islamic Finance Centre Launched by Thomson Reuters on the Westlaw Business Global Legal Platform

Accelus | News

Islamic Finance Centre Launched by Thomson Reuters on the Westlaw Business Global Legal Platform

EAGAN, Minn.; LONDON, 29 Jul 2009 – Thomson Reuters today announced the addition of the Islamic Finance Centre on the Westlaw Business global legal platform.

Westlaw Business combines transactional and legal guidance with tools designed specifically for business lawyers. “The Islamic Finance Centre leverages the best assets from across Thomson Reuters, along with legal guidance from, and in close partnership with, Islamic finance standards boards,” said Kevin Ritchey, senior vice president, Westlaw Business. “It is the first legal resource of its kind designed specifically for lawyers working on Sharia-compliant transactions. Our goal is to advance transparency and legal insight into this growing area of practice to better serve legal professionals on a global basis.”

The Westlaw Business Islamic Finance Centre is a unique service, including deals, documents and precedents, as well as terms and conditions on over 6,000 Sharia-compliant deals. The Centre features standards from Islamic finance boards, and also highlights coverage of industry events, trends, news and exclusive expert guidance; discussions of recent developments in Islamic finance regions; and relevant legislation and case law.

Westlaw Business is seen as a key global platform for business lawyers. “To develop the new Islamic Finance Centre on Westlaw Business required an extraordinary level of teamwork across Thomson Reuters,” said Helen Owers, chief operating officer for Thomson Reuters, Legal. “Islamic finance is an underserved and rapidly expanding market, and Thomson Reuters is delighted to advance this space and help position lawyers around the world to grow it even further.”

The Islamic finance market, estimated at $700 billion to $1 trillion in assets, is growing at a rate of 10 to 15 percent annually. "The Islamic Finance Centre on Westlaw Business is the first of its kind in the legal community,” said Rushdi Siddiqui, global head of Islamic Finance and OIC Countries for Thomson Reuters. “The Centre will provide a unique level of transparency into Islamic finance deals for the global community in these challenging times. It will become the global go-to platform for examining industry body regulations and standards, as well as central bank policies relating to Islamic finance, for lawyers, investment bankers and product-structuring teams.”

In addition to Islamic Finance, Westlaw Business features other specialized work centres, including Restructuring, U.S. Securities, M & A, Private Equity and LIVEDGAR. Since its launch as a global platform in February of this year, Westlaw Business has added specialized content centres for Canadian and U.K. securities, as well as a global Business Citator, with filings and information relating to public and private businesses worldwide.

For additional information on the Westlaw Business Islamic Finance Centre and Westlaw Business, go to http://business.westlaw.com.

Thomson Reuters Governance, Risk and Compliance

Through the Thomson Reuters Accelus suite of products, the Governance, Risk & Compliance business dynamically connects business transactions, strategy and operations to the ever-changing regulatory environment, providing highly regulated firms with informed outcomes.

Thomson Reuters Accelus is a comprehensive suite of solutions specifically built to address the governance, risk and compliance challenges faced by the boardroom, and its legal, compliance, audit and risk management professionals. Comprising leading solutions provided by the heritage businesses of Complinet, Oden®, Paisley®, West’s Capitol Watch®, World-Check, Westlaw Compliance Advisor®, Westlaw Business and EDGARfilings, Thomson Reuters Accelus helps customers manage their risk exposure and accelerate their business at every step.

For more information, visit: accelus.thomsonreuters.com

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 55,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. For more information, go to http://thomsonreuters.com.