It has become fashionable to ask bankers whether the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region can support three or more financial centres – the traditionally dominant Bahrain, and newer players Doha and Dubai, as well as Riyadh and Kuwait. The politeness that typifies the GCC region usually means the answer is “yes”. The Gulf’s financial centres do not want to be seen to be competing – let alone in conflict – and there are arguments to say that they are often complementary services.
“Each centre has been set up for different reasons: Bahrain as an offshore centre, Qatar as an onshore – it is not a free zone,” Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority chief executive Stuart Pearce told the City of London and the Gulf Co-operation Council conference in London in June. “Why shouldn’t you have more than one financial centre.” Asia, after all, supports Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo, to name but three.
