Efforts are under way to relaunch a compulsory health insurance scheme, with initial expectations of its launch in 2017. While details were still being ironed out at time of press, insurers are hopeful that the system will provide the sector with a new and lucrative business. Underwriters have been setting up new medical systems in preparation...
With governments across the GCC feeling the pinch from low global oil prices, sukuk (Islamic bonds) are witnessing a renewed trend of issuances. According to the ratings agency Fitch, new issuances of sukuk in core markets rose by 26% in 2016, with the trend continuing into the first half of 2017. Moreover, Fitch expects the absolute...
It was more challenging operating environment for the Islamic financial services (IFS) sector in 2016, as the continuing effects of low oil prices fed into the domestic economy, leading to a sizeable decline in government deposits and a tightening of liquidity. Nonetheless, asset growth continued, and as oil prices began to pick up towards the...
Islamic financial services (IFS) have come a long way in a relatively short period. According to the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), the international body that acts as the global regulator for the sector, $1.89trn of assets were managed in sharia-compliant structures internationally in 2016. As the sector grows, so do the demands...
Investment Holding Group (IHG) announced it would make an initial public offering (IPO) subscription for 60% of its stock in January 2017. The announcement meant the company would be the first new listing in the GCC for 2017, and the first IPO on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) since Mesaieed Petrochemical in 2014.
Following a somewhat muted year for trading in 2016, additional listings and new products have helped to boost activity on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) in 2017. Recent and forthcoming measures, including covered short selling, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and corporate bonds are expected to lift liquidity and further deepen the market, while...
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