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Courtesy
of Qatar Financial Center
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Stuart Pearce,
CEO & Director General, QFC.
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The Qatar Financial Center is a financial and business
center established by the Government of Qatar and
located in Doha. The QFC has been designed to attract
International financial services institutions and
major multi-national corporations and to encourage
participation in the growing market for financial
services in Qatar and elsewhere in the region.
"The QFC’s objective is to develop the
financial markets in Qatar by bringing in both financial
and non-financial firms," said Stuart Pearce,
QFC’s CEO and Director General. He continued,
"We’re here to create and implement the
legal framework to attract these international firms
to Qatar." In particular, the QFC aims to establish
Qatar as a vibrant hub for project finance and to
provide an attractive environment for a wide range
of related financial services activities in the
Gulf region.
The QFC will operate to international standards
and provide a first class legal and business infrastructure
for those doing business within the center. "We
want companies doing business here to understand
our practices and be comfortable with them because
there is an operating precedent," said Mr.
Pearce. In fact, the QFC’s commercial and regulatory
environment and systems conform to international
best practices and are separate from and independent
of the host Qatari systems. The standards required
and the legal environment will be familiar to businesses
currently operating in major financial centers around
the world.
Attractive incentives offered by the QFC include
three year, tax-free grace period for companies
setting up within the QFC and no local sponsorship
is required from a Qatari citizen. Mr. Pearce says,
"While broadening the tax base is important
for us, we don’t want to implement taxes on
businesses when they first start up. This way, we
make money when they make money." The QFC is
operated by the Qatar Financial Center Authority
(QFCA) which is responsible for the commercial strategy
and business development for the center and provides
its administrative functions.
Regulatory systems are being developed and operated
by the QFC Regulatory Authority. There is also a
QFC Appeals Body that will consider appeals arising
from Regulatory Authority decisions, and a QFC Tribunal
that will administer and enforce the commercial
laws of the QFC.
Under the QFC Law the Regulatory Authority, the
Appeals Body and the Tribunal have been established
so as to operate transparently, objectively and
fairly. Their decision-making, financing and operations
are structured to ensure appropriate and resilient
independence, while being fully supported by the
Government of Qatar. Also established is a QFC Companies
Registration Office which can register limited liability
companies and limited liability partnerships within
the QFC, and branches of companies operating within
the QFC.
In the future, Stuart Pearce would like the systems
and procedures being implemented by QFC to become
the normal way of doing business in Qatar. He said,
"Ideally, if we’re successful, there will
no longer be a need for us to exist. The market
will be 'QFC'd.’" As for Qatar’s
future, Mr. Pearce has high praise for the Gulf
emirate. He says, "Qatar very much reminds
me of Geneva in the sense that it’s quiet,
influential, without over regulation, understated
and no risk. Also, the government is proceeding
in a very measured manner, not putting all of their
eggs in one Gulf basket. For these reasons it reminds
me of Geneva."
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Qatar
