Qatar

The Law No. 13 of 2012 regarding the Qatar Central Bank and the regulation of financial institutions is the highest level financial services regulation in Qatar. Issued by the Amir and published in the official gazette issue number 17 of 2012, the law became fully legally operational on January 30, 2013, making the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) an autonomous corporate body accountable to the Amir. This law, consisting of 234 articles, harmonizes the regulation of macro-prudential supervision in the mainland and offshore Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) zones for conventional banking, Islamic finance, and the insurance sector. It also provides the QCB with the authority to issue directives, manage foreign exchange reserves, and protect the fixed peg against the US dollar. Moreover, this law establishes the Financial Stability and Risk Control Committee across jurisdictions to reduce systemic risk, and establishes the Disputes Resolution Committee, presided over by the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal, to resolve disputes between companies and the QCB regarding regulation.