By Mohammad Shoeb

DOHA: The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) has announced plans to introduce revised regulations by early next year. The new rules will enable QFC-registered firms to list on Qatar Exchange more smoothly said a senior official of QFC yesterday.

“The new set of laws which will be more aligned with the rules of Qatar Central Bank (QCB) and other regulatory bodies will provide the QFC-registered companies more access to the local market including listing on the Qatari bourse and also help launching Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)” said Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida CEO and Board Member QFC.

Al Jaida speaking to reporters at a roundtable meeting said: “ Certain efforts cannot be made such as listing of QFC companies unless rules are revised.”

Currently there are no QFC registered firms listed on the QE but there is a long list of firms which are keen to join the stock market.

The QFC is a fully onshore business and financial centre based on English Common Laws while the state laws are predominantly based on Arabic laws. As a result there is a contradiction in rules and regulations between the two jurisdictions.

Al Jaida who took charge as the new CEO some five months ago said that QFC has always been a laboratory for policy change but also assured that the new set of rules will allow the judicial environment in the QFC to expand and grow in a sustainable manner.

“With the revised laws which is to be enacted by the first quarter of 2016 the QFC companies will be able to conduct business more freely and smoothly across the country and ensure better market stability which will eventually attract more international companies and foreign direct investments (FDI)” he said. He noted that the drop in oil prices has worked as blessing in disguise since it has further accelerated the efforts towards economic diversification and the promotion of private sector development both on the priority agendas of the government.

“In the past there were some sort resistance from the local communities but today we enjoy the support of all including local businesses and the entire government which has made our mandate more meaningful” he added.

“We are focusing on areas other than financial services such as sports IT and marketing and we are revisiting some regulated entities in areas such as banking insurance and asset management.”

He said QFC is looking into developing a regulatory framework and working with QCB and other regulatory authorities to attract companies from the regulated areas. Rules will be structured in a manner which will be more aligned with rules of QCB and other market regulators without a lot of discrepancies” said Al Jaida.

Asked about the recently announced moratorium on registration of new law firms in QFC he said there are enough number of QFC-listed law firms serving. They are occupying a significant market share which is saturated to some extent.

“We have not shut down on new law firms. We are going to have the first Qatari law firm in QFC within a week or so. However we also do not want to be a jurisdiction licensing only law firms as we want other companies to thrive.”

QFC which is celebrating 10th anniversary has achieved great success and growing fast. Last year some 60 new firms (from non-regulated areas) registered at QFC witnessing a 100 percent growth compared to the previous year.

The Peninsula