DOHA: Morgan Stanley Capital International’s (MSCI) decision to upgrade Qatar will render significant impetus to Qatar’s financial market. Welcoming the index compiler’s decision to elevate Qatar from Frontier to Emerging Market status, regulators and market leaders said the upgrading would help Qatar attract huge fund flows to the market.
On the market reclassification Nasser Ahmad Al Shaibi, the CEO of Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA), said the regulatory body, in cooperation with Qatar Exchange (QE) issued several legislations and operational procedures such as Delivery-Versus-Payment ( DVP) mechanism, liquidity provider activity and securities lending and borrowing activity to support the inclusion of Qatari capital market in the MSCI emerging market index using the best international practices and standards.”
Al Shaibi added that QFMA in corporation with the QE and the concerned parties will continue to develop the legislations to conform with the capital markets developments according to international best practices and in line with the needs and privacy of the local market.
The decision is a positive step towards development of QE and attracting foreign investments, said QE CEO Rashid Ali Al Mansoori. “The decision clearly reflects the recognition of the positive steps made by Qatar Exchange over the past years to meet the MSCI requirements, in terms of the development of the market infrastructure and the implementation of a number of important projects and initiatives, which were welcomed by the international financial and investment institutions.
QE, which has a market cap of over QR512bn or more than $140bn is one of the leading stock exchanges in the GCC and Mena regions. The bourse has made great strides in the development of infrastructure, diversification of investment tools available for trading, and launching of many initiatives that have helped various types of investors to enter the market and invest in a more easily efficient and orderly manner.
On the new emerging market status of Qatar, Abdul Hakeem Mostafawi, CEO of HSBC in Qatar said: “This is testament of international investors’ views on Qatar’s strategic story and the realisation of the 2030 Vision. This will further encourage foreign investment flows as well as private sector participation in the capital markets, and will support an increase in the number of listings”.
As the leading international bank in Qatar we were fortunate to play an important part in bringing the experience and international best practices that have led to this milestone for the Qatari capital markets.
Nick Wilson, Chairman of London-listed Qatar Investment Fund said: “The upgrade reflects Qatar’s powerful economic, regulatory and financial progress in recent years. It also confirms that business conditions and the regulatory environment is increasingly investor friendly in Qatar and UAE…… These markets offer an attractive combination of a stable economy, strong earnings growth, low valuations and high dividend yield, providing a compelling investment opportunity to global investors.
The Peninsula
