Financial Services

Competition in the securities brokerage industry is intensifying. The recent introduction of bank-backed brokerage houses has given clients access to topnotch research and professional services, which are improving service quality and offerings to investors.

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...

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...