Qatar Foundation - Education City

Introduction

In March 2005 the State of Qatar enacted new legislation to establish the Qatar Financial Centre. The Qatar Financial Centre, formally opened on 1 May 2005, is designed to attract international financial institutions and multi-national corporates to establish business operations in a "best-in-class" international environment, and to participate in a long-term and mutually beneficial partnership with Qatar.

The Centre consists of the QFC Authority and the QFC Regulatory Authority respectively, which are independent of each other. The QFC Authority is responsible for commercial strategy and for developing relationships with the global financial community, financial institutions and other key bodies and organisations both within and outside Qatar. The Regulatory Authority supervises financial services firms and financial institutions who operate in or from the Qatar Financial Centre. It has a broad range of powers to authorise, supervise and, where necessary, discipline regulated financial institutions, firms and individuals.

Both the QFC Authority and the Regulatory Authority can recommend appropriate legislation to achieve their objectives, and have certain rule-making powers. The Qatar Financial Centre provides mechanisms for resolving disputes between Qatar Financial Centre firms or financial institutions and their counter-parties and for arbitration or the formal resolution of civil disputes before a Tribunal, in effect a commercial court, operating to high judicial standards. It has also created an Appeals Body to allow firms affected by particular decisions of the Regulatory Authority to have those decisions reviewed.