IFN
IFNCOUNTRY
SECTOR
CORRESPONDENTS
A positive first quarter
QATAR
By Amjad Hussain
Qatar recently announced its budget
for 2014-15 at around US$62 billion,
an increase of around 3.5% over the
last fiscal year. While the budget has a
significant focus on the infrastructure
sector, its growth is indicative of the
government’s support for the growth
of the wider economy and particularly
that of the financial sector. This can
be seen in the recent announcements
by some of the major Qatari banks of
positive Q1 2014 results.
Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) posted net
profit of US$92 million, a 15% increase
on Q1 net profit for 2013; Masraf
Al Rayan (MAR) posted net profit
of US$118 million, an 8% increase
compared to 2013; Doha Bank recorded
US$109 million, a 1% increase; and
Qatar International Islamic Bank
(International Islamic), posting its first
consolidated financials following its
acquisition of the Islamic Bank of Britain
(IBB), recorded net profit of US$56
million, a 10.2% increase. The consistent
strength of International Islamic has
also been rewarded by an upgrade from
Fitch Ratings of International Islamic’s
long-term issuer default ratings to ‘A’
from ‘A-’ with a stable outlook.
The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) and the
People’s Bank of China have reportedly
signed a deal that will allow the QCB to
purchase Chinese bonds for its foreignexchange reserves as China moves to
gradually open its financial system to
foreign investment. The talks between
the two central banks were also attended
by the CEOs of some of the largest
Qatari banks who reportedly expressed
an interest in expanding their operations
into China, particularly Islamic banking.
Qatar’s Islamic banks continue to make
their presence felt abroad with QInvest
mandated by Turkish participation
bank Al Baraka as joint lead manager,
along with BNP Paribas, Emirates NBD
Capital and Standard Chartered Bank,
for a US$500 million Sukuk issuance.
It has also been an eventful month
with some notable domestic deals.
QIB has teamed up with Barwa Bank
in a secured Islamic refinancing worth
US$807.4 million to Qatar’s premier
LNG transporter Nakilat, which through
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IFN Country Correspondents
its joint venture Maran Nakilat Co., has
added three new LNG vessels to its fleet.
Barwa Real Estate Company, a Qatar
Exchange-listed Shariah compliant real
estate investor has signed a deal worth
around US$2.08 billion to sell its Barwa
City real estate project to Labregah
Real Estate, a wholly-owned subsidiary
Qatari Diar. Qatar's largest telecoms
operator Ooredoo has also signed three
one-year Murabahahs of US$166 million:
one with each of Qatar Islamic Bank,
Masraf Al-Rayyan and Barwa Bank.
In regulatory developments, Qatar’s
regulators recently announced plans
to establish a deposit insurance
framework that will also include a
Shariah compliant scheme which they
aim to implement by 2016. While
government support for domestic banks
is considered implicit in many cashrich Gulf countries, explicit deposit
insurance is rare in the region. The
scheme will be part of a strategic plan
for Qatar's financial sector developed
by the Ministry of Finance, the Qatar
Central Bank and the Qatar Financial
Markets Authority in order to bring
Qatar in line with international best
practice similar to other high-income
jurisdictions.
Although details of the scheme have
not yet been issued, it will reportedly
initially be set up under the QCB and
is intended to provide a safety net
that would promote financial stability.
Under the Shariah compliant version,
any expenses and investments made by
the scheme must comply with Shariah
principles such as the prohibition on
interest and pure monetary speculation.
The QCB also plans to introduce a
regulatory framework for local credit
rating agencies that will be licensed
in the near future as part of plans to
further develop the domestic loan
market.
Finally, the Qatar Exchange announced in
its recent roadshows plans to launch two
exchange-traded funds (ETFs) over the
next six months. One of the ETFs will be
based on government fixed income risk
from an Asian borrower and the second
product is likely to be an ETF based on a
representative Qatar-country index.
Amjad Hussain is a partner at K&L Gates.
He can be contacted at Amjad.Hussain@
klgates.com.
33
AUSTRALIA: Gerhard Bakker
director, Madina Village Community Services
BAHRAIN: Dr Hatim El-Tahir
director of Islamic Finance Knowledge Center, Deloitte &
Touche
BANGLADESH: Md Shamsuzzaman
executive vice president, Islami Bank Bangladesh
BELGIUM: Prof Laurent Marliere
CEO, ISFIN
BERMUDA: Belaid A Jheengoor
director of asset management, PwC
BRUNEI: James Chiew Siew Hua
senior partner, Abrahams Davidson & Co
CANADA: Jeffrey S Graham
partner, Borden Ladner Gervais
EGYPT: Dr Walid Hegazy
managing partner, Hegazy & Associates
FRANCE: Kader Merbouh
co head of the executive master of the Islamic finance, ParisDauphine University
HONG KONG & CHINA: Anthony Chan
founder, New Line Capital Investment Limited
INDIA: H Jayesh
founder partner, Juris Corp
INDONESIA: Farouk A Alwyni
CEO of Alwyni International Capital and the chairman
of Centre for Islamic Studies in Finance Economics and
Development
IRAN: Majid Pireh
Islamic finance expert, Securities & Exchange Organization
of Iran
IRAQ: Khaled Saqqaf
partner and head of Jordan & Iraq offices, Al Tamimi & Co
JAPAN: Serdar A Basara
president, Japan Islamic Finance
JORDAN: Khaled Saqqaf
partner, Al Tamimi & Co
KOREA: Yong-Jae Chang
partner, Lee & Ko
KUWAIT: Alex Saleh
partner, Al Tamimi & Co
LEBANON: Johnny El Hachem
partner – corporate, Bin Shabib & Associates
LUXEMBOURG: Said Qaceme
senior manager of Advisory & Consulting, Deloitte Tax &
Consulting
MALDIVES: Aishath Muneeza
deputy minister, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Maldives
MALTA: Reuben Buttigieg
president, Malta Institute of Management
MAURITIUS: Sameer K Tegally
associate, Conyers Dill & Pearman
MOROCCO: Ahmed Tahiri Jouti
senior consultant, Al Maali Islamic Finance Training and
Consultancy
NEW ZEALAND: Dr Mustafa Farouk
counsel member for Islamic financial institutions, The
Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ)
NIGERIA: Auwalu Ado
Shariah auditor, Jaiz Bank
OMAN: Riza Ismail
senior associate, Trowers & Hamlins
PAKISTAN: Muhammad Shoaib Ibrahim
managing director & CEO, First Habib Modaraba
PHILIPPINES: Rafael A Morales
managing partner, SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan
QATAR:Amjad Hussain
partner, K&L Gates
RUSSIA: Roustam Vakhitov
managing partner, International Tax Associates
SAUDI ARABIA: Nabil Issa
partner, King & Spalding
SENEGAL: Abdoulaye Mbow
Islamic finance advisor, Africa Islamic Finance Corporation
SOUTH AFRICA: Amman Muhammad
CEO, First National Bank-Islamic Finance
SINGAPORE: Yeo Wico
partner, Allen & Gledhill
SRI LANKA: Roshan Madewala
director/CEO, Research Intelligence Unit
SWITZERLAND: Khadra Abdullahi
associate, Investment banking, Faisal Private Bank
SYRIA: Gabriel Oussi,
general manager, Oussi Law Firm
TANZANIA: Khalfan Abdullahi
head of product development and Shariah compliance, Amana
Bank
THAILAND: Shah Fahad
vice-president and head of strategic marketing and product
development, Islamic Bank of Thailand
TURKEY: Ali Ceylan
partner, Baspinar & Partners
UK: Roshan Madewala
CEO and director, Research Intelligence Unit
UAE: Rima Mrad
partner, Bin Shabib & Associates
US: Joshua Brockwell
investment communications director, Azzad Asset Management
YEMEN: Moneer Saif
head of Islamic banking, CAC Bank
IFN Correspondents are experts in their respective fields
and are selected by Islamic Finance news to contribute
designated short country reports. For more information
about becoming an IFN Correspondent please contact
sasikala@redmoneygroup.com
28th May 2014