Q: Is earning any money from the London Stock Exchange halal i.e they are not a bank where majority of the income is from riba but an exchange and make most of their money on fixed commissions on trades and other data services. Does it matter if I am a cleaner or in the IT department? My role is to configure IT systems to facilitate the Investment Banks and Hedge Funds to be able to match trades (blocks and allocations) with the Executing and Prime Brokers. This is technically post trade (i.e. after the haram trade has taken place and just needs to be matched and confirmed by both parties). Some of these trades could be CFDs, spreadbets, futures, interest swaps, etc (all haram). Furthermore, we have the duty to send the trades to the FCA, so am I also in the role of a clerk or a witness?
A: 1. The owners of the London Stock Exchange are non-Muslims residing in a non-Muslim country. Thus, they are not bound by Islamic injunctions related to trade and riba. As a Muslim employee of this company, permissibility of the role and the income earned therefrom will depend on the nature of the role being performed.
2. It will be permissible to work as a cleaner. However, configuration of the IT systems will depend on the role of the IT system itself. If it is to simply conduct historical reporting of a contract already concluded then it is possible you will escape the prohibition of assisting in sin. Similarly, if the IT system is not bespoke to only haram trades then it is possible you will escape the same prohibition. However, if the IT system is bespoke to only haram trades it is not permissible to configure such system and any remuneration earned for doing so is unlawful.