MMS seeks to cement its position as a leading Shariah-compliant dealmaker

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP (MMS) has become the new host partner of the Edinburgh Ethical Finance Roundtable series, following a year in which the firm acted on more than £200 million of Shariah-compliant real estate activity in the UK.

The roundtable series of events is organised by the Islamic Finance Council UK (IFC), which aims to promote better co-ordination and understanding of the shared values between Islamic finance and the broader ethical finance arena.

Barry McKeown, a property partner with MMS, said: “Ethical finance, and Shariah-compliant finance in particular, is a significant growth area that is increasingly helping to fulfil a number of funding needs in the UK as the economy returns to growth.

“MMS has become a leading UK practice in the Islamic and ethical finance sectors and is particularly experienced in the Shariah-compliant structuring of UK real estate transactions, having acted on over £200m of Shariah-compliant real estate activity in the UK in the last 12 months.

“By tailoring a property deal to comply with Islamic customs and financial rules, we can bring valuable foreign investment into the UK real estate market.

“This has been particularly evident in the PRS and social housing sectors, in line with government targets to boost housebuilding in order to meet the ever-growing need for high-quality new-build homes.”

Among the deals it has brokered in recent years, MMS acted as UK legal adviser to Shariah compliant bank Gatehouse on its £600m PRS joint venture with Edinburgh-based urban regeneration specialist Sigma Capital.