LONDON: Lord Edward George, the former governor of the Bank of England, died on Saturday aged 70 after a long battle with cancer, the Bank of England announced. "Steady Eddie" George, as he was affectionately known by friends and colleagues, served as governor between 1993 to the summer of 2003 after his second five-year term ended.

Obituary writers will no doubt focus on his numerous achievements in helping to steer British monetary policy through periods of stability, crisis and change. He steered the bank and the country through the ERM (Exchange Rate Mechanism) debacle during the Major government; and the Bank of England to independence in setting the interest rate during the first term of the Blair premiership. But one area of his achievements they may overlook is his near single-handed support for the establishment of Islamic banking in the UK.

During his first term, George was a proactive supporter of giving Muslims, and others, interested in alternative investment products based on faith principles access to such products provided they do not clash with the general principles of UK banking law and provisions. This coincided with the financial and social inclusion policies of the New Labour government of Tony Blair and his then Chancellor Gordon Brown.

In one of several past interviews, George stressed that "we see it as our task to provide a regime in which users of financial services can benefit from robust competition among financial firms. We certainly need to deepen our understanding of the developing principles and practices in this (Islamic finance) area. I believe that London is already a significant center for Islamic finance, and is well placed to expand its role as demand increases." This was way back in 1996.

George was right. Today Britain boasts six authorized Islamic financial institutions; with another two dozen or so institutions offering Islamic financial products; and over 20 Sukuk listed on the London Stock Exchange. London is also the premier center for commodity Murabaha transactions through contracts traded on the London Metals Exchange.

Most importantly, George established the Islamic Finance Advisory Group (IFAG) at the Bank of England under the leadership of Andrew Buxton, the former CEO of Barclays Bank and then adviser to Barclays. IFAG, with the help of entities such as Norton Rose, which did much of the work pro bono, did all the research and explanatory reports which paved the way for much of the recent legislation especially dealing with tax neutrality for Islamic products such as Sukuk, Murabaha and home financing products especially dealing with the abolition of double stamp duty and risk weighting for Islamic mortgages.

George famously stressed that one of the reasons why he became a champion of Islamic finance in the UK is because of a conversation with his neighbor, a well-established professional Muslim couple. During a casual chat, the neighbor mentioned that he was unable to get access to mortgages in the UK; not because banks did not want to lend him the money but because they were based on riba (interest) and not according to the principles of his faith, which proscribed interest.

The visionary George immediately responded that as governor of Bank of England, he could do something about this because he saw nothing in the UK legislation which could not accommodate such an aspiration under UK banking law. Yes it would require some amendments to existing laws or even new provisions under the Finance Act. Typically he got his team and market players into action. The rest is history.

Not surprisingly, the London Sukuk Summit Awards of Excellence three years ago recognized the contribution of George by awarding him its "Award of Excellence for Life Time Contribution to Islamic Finance in the UK."

Lord George was knighted in 2000 and made a life peer in 2004. He is survived by his wife Vanessa and their three children.