The Growing Opportunity for Captive Insurance in Qatar

Qatar Financial Centre

Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) is an organisation established by the government of Qatar in 2005 to attract international financial services and multinational corporations to grow and develop the financial services industry in The State of Qatar.

QFC provides firms with a platform from which to access local and regional investment opportunities and conduct business in the region.  The QFC is an on-shore Financial Centre and business can be transacted inside or outside of the QFC , in local or foreign currency. This is a unique characteristic and allows businesses to operate both locally and internationally. Moreover, QFC Firms can be 100% owned by foreign companies, and all profits can be remitted outside of Qatar. In addition, Firms licensed by the QFC can locate anywhere in Doha, paying local market rents and access local services. Finally, the QFC has also developed its own Employment Regulations and Code, as well as its own Immigration Regulations.

QFC Authority's Strategic Focus

Since the beginning of 2010, the Qatar Financial Centre Authority has focused its efforts on supporting Qatar’s Financial Services industry through the creation of three hubs namely Asset Management, Re-insurance and Captive Insurance. These three hubs will complement Qatar’s Financial Services industry and support it in becoming the pre-eminent Financial Centre in the Middle East.

Following the lead from the State of Qatar’s National Vision for 2030, the QFC Authority will concentrate its energy and resources on acting as an effective enabler of the three hubs. It is our goal to build a leading-edge financial services centre where all participants, both domestic and foreign, benefit from the attractive local market potential and use it to springboard into other countries in the region.

QFC’s Captive Hub Strategy

Currently, the QFC has over 140 licensed firms ranging from Banks, Insurers, Insurance Intermediaries, Asset Managers and support services including advisory, legal, consultancy and administrative services. Within the Insurance sector, the QFC has already begun developing a hub of expertise with firms such as Zurich International Life, Q-Re, QIC International, Marsh, Kane, Alico, Axa Insurance and Alliance Takaful. Moreover,

Qatar’s Captive Insurance industry has undergone significant change this year, primarily due to efforts by the Qatar Financial Centre to promote this sector locally and regionally. Earlier this year the QFC revised its corporate strategy indicating that the establishment of a Captive Hub in Qatar is one of its key objectives in the near future, and will focus on attracting global insurance and reinsurance companies as well as ancillary services providers such as brokers, actuaries and Captives / Insurance managers.

The QFC environment allows a variety of structures to facilitate risk transfer from corporates. In fact the QFCRA has recently released the Captive Insurance Business Rules 2011 and Insurance Mediation Business Rules 2011. The new insurance regulatory frameworks applying to captive insurers, captive managers and insurance intermediaries commenced on July 1^st, 2011 and have been designed to support the development of Qatar as a regional centre for captive insurance.

Why choose the QFC and Qatar?

1. Qatar boasts uniquely sustainable economic growth perspectives based on its huge natural gas reserves which are the world’s third largest. Over US$20 trillion of proven energy resources are to be monetised over the next 100 years. This vast base of natural resources differentiates Qatar from other countries in the region.
2. Qatar grants foreign insurers and reinsurers full access to the domestic market – rather than just an off-shore location. This liberal regime is another differentiating factor in favour of Qatar.
3. Through the Qatar Financial Centre, Qatar offers a superior legal framework which is based on English common law. Civil and commercial disputes may be brought before the QFC Civil and Commercial Court (in English), with laws independent from the state and adapted from major financial jurisdictions across the world.
4. The emerging Qatar (re)insurance centre enjoys strong and credible governmental support. The establishment of Qatarlyst, an electronic (re)insurance platform to conduct risk trading activities and the Qatar Finance and Business Academy, a specialised educational academy focused on developing the local talent pool for the financial sector, are testament to Qatar’s commitment to building a reinsurance hub.
5. Driven by the influx of world-class foreign companies, a sound domestic (re)insurance cluster is developing. It will be boosted further by the strong pipeline of licence applications with the Qatar Financial Centre Authority and high-profile initiatives such as Qatarlyst.
6. Qatar’s political, economic and historical ties are not confined to the Middle East but also extend to North Africa, Central and South Asia, making the country a formidable gateway to a wider region.
7. Qatar offers a highly competitive operating cost environment, for example in terms of taxation, commercial real estate and the quality and quantity of air links.
8. Qatar is committed to establishing world-class regulatory standards modelled along the lines of the UK Financial Services Authority.
9. Qatar offers an attractive quality of living based on a sensitive balance between Western lifestyle and Arab heritage. This approach promises social and political stability on a sustainable basis, arguably the most important location factor for long-term oriented investors.

Meeting Requests

For meeting requests with the QFC Authority executives kindly fill in the attached request form and send it back to Stephen Carriere on S.Carriere@qfc.com.qa, we will reply back to you when it’s confirmed for the meeting setup.

 

Media Requests

If you are a member in a media organization and interested to do an interview with one of the QFC Authority executives kindly fill the attached form and send it back to Stephen Carriere on S.Carriere@qfc.com.qa

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