Qatar

THE COMPANY: A regional and local heavyweight, Industries Qatar (IQCD on the Qatar Exchange) is the second-largest listed company on the local bourse. The state of Qatar, through Qatar Petroleum (QP), owns a 51% stake in the company. QP recently lowered its ownership from 70% by transferring a portion of...

According to the “Qatar Economic Outlook 2011-12” report, issued by the General Secretariat for Development Planning (GSDP), the country will continue posting double-digit fiscal surpluses in 2011 and 2012 as a result of increasing hydrocarbons revenues. However, as the National Development Strategy 2011–16 (NDS) has pointed out, this hefty surplus...

THE COMPANY: Doha Bank (DHBK on the Qatar Exchange) is the country’s fifth-largest bank, with a 7.5% market share based on 2011 assets. The lender offers conventional banking services and provides credit card, foreign exchange and asset management services. DHBK has a presence in Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE...

Key to Qatar’s crowded banking sector is its foreign bank branches. By year-end 2011, these lenders held QR32.2bn ($8.8bn) in assets, equivalent to a 4.8% share of the market, down from 7.7% in 2010. Nonetheless, foreign banks have achieved notable success in the country in the long run, with the segment achieving a 12.7% compound annual growth rate...

With one of the world’s most commanding positions in the global energy industry and a growing role in regional diplomacy, Qatar has seen massive returns on the political and economic investments it has made in the past two decades, and the country has come to the fore as a respected voice in international forums.

Several important regulatory moves impacted Qatar’s banking system in 2011 within the framework of ongoing initiatives to reduce risk and household debt exposure while moving towards the long-debated goal of a single regulatory authority. The first of these major changes was a February 2011 regulation that obliged conventional banks to close their...