Islamic banking and finance continues to arouse interest. More Western financial institutions are offering Islamic investment products to Islamic investors worldwide. In mid-September the $1.2 billion financing of the Equate petrochemical project in Kuwait was signed - the largest commercial bank financing for a project in the region and the first combining conventional and Islamic financing for more than 10 years.

The $100 million in Islamic financing from the Kuwait Finance House for the Equate deal suggests real progress is being made.

Over the past 20 years much of the discussion of Islamic finance has been dominated more by politicians than by practitioners. Statistics on Islamic banking have been weak; the different Islamic institutions around the world have been poorly understood, especially in the West.

In an effort to improve this a number of initiatives have been taken at the US' prestigious Harvard University. Last year Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies began a study known as the "Harvard Islamic Investment Study" and the results of this study, sponsored by Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and Goldman Sachs among others, are expected before year end.

With a programme on Islamic legal studies, Harvard has launched the Harvard Islamic Finance Information Program (HIFIP). It is intended that this will become the premier source of data on Islamic banking and finance in the  world.

HIFIP is collecting bank data from all available sources, including the International Association of Islamic Banks in Jeddah. It is sponsored by the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf in Bahrain and intends to provide a full databank of current and historical bank information and data on Islamic finance.

The list includes 133 institutions from 24 countries. The combined paid-up capital of the group reaches close to $5 billion with total assets in excess of $101 billion. While this list could be improved and many banks in Sudan and Indonesia are small, the list provides an important guide and reference point. But perhaps Citibank in Pakistan may be surprised to be listed as an Islamic institution.