Unlike neighbouring financial centres, the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) is both a financial and business centre, designed to attract not just international banks and those involved in financial services but also multinational corporates. Just as Qatar represents a different economic and social environment from its neighbours, the QFC represents a different legal framework and a different model designed to facilitate business transactions and provide a familiar international legal and business infrastructure for those doing business in the centre.
The Qatar authorities have moved fast to create a financial centre that reflects the country’s enormous natural resources and wealth and unmatched GDP growth. Significant legislative headway has been made in recent months to enable applications for entry to be considered by May 1 following the publication of core regulations expected in early April. An Emiri decree covering the overall operations of the centre was issued in early March. The QFC represents, in effect, a new legal environment designed specifically for the new type of business that the centre is expected to attract and that has largely not been conducted before out of Qatar. This applies particularly to the project finance and wealth management areas.
