London has retained its position as the world’s best international finance centre, although its overall rating has fallen by more points than any other centre in the top 25, according to the 14th Global Financial Centres Index.
The Qatar Financial Centre has plans in place to buy hedge funds as part of a strategy to bolster the asset management industry based in the country.
Guernsey has signed a Double Taxation Agreement with Qatar, the island’s first full DTA with a Middle Eastern country.
The Qatar Financial Centre Authority has appointed Yousef Al-Jaida as chief strategic development officer.
Turkey and the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) have the most Islamic finance-friendly tax systems out of eight countries in the MENA region, according to a study sponsored by the QFC.
Authorities in the UK are probing allegations that Barclays Bank made a loan to the Qatar Investment Authority for it to invest in the bank at the height of the 2008 financial crisis in order to avoid a government bailout, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Credit Suisse is reportedly planning to cut its investment banking business in Dubai in order to focus on Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The Qatar National Bank has launched a debt fund, becoming the first bank in Qatar to launch a fund of this kind.
The board of the Qatar Investment Fund has appointed Nicholas Wilson has its new chairman, following the sudden death of former chairman David von Simson.
Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes plans to grow its asset management arm by 50% after the completion of its joint venture with Qatar's QInvest.
London-based QIB UK, a subsidiary of Qatar Islamic Bank, plans to launch two structured products this month including a note linked to a sukuk, its head of asset management told Reuters.
Masraf al Rayan, Qatars largest Islamic bank and its fourth-largest bank by market value, has set up an independent brokerage subsidiary that it says will buy and sell various Shariah-compliant financial instruments for all types of investors.
