Protection of investors’ right primary mandate: QFMA

DOHA: Qatar’s capital market regulator Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) yesterday reaffirmed that its primary mandate is to protect the rights of the investors. Be it majority investors or minority investors, as a regulator, ‘ putting investors first’ is the QFMA’s primary responsibility, Sami Boujilben, Chief Adviser, QFMA said.

Participating in a panel discussion on the opening day of the 2nd Conference on ‘Corporate Governance for Listed Companies’ the QFMA Chief Adviser expressed confidence that Qatar’s ranking in World Bank’s ‘Doing Business” PMI Index (Protecting Minority Investors Index) will take a huge jump in WB’s 2019 report.

Earlier, the conference was formally opened in the presence of Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Governor and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the QFC Regulatory Authority H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani. QFMA Chief Executive Officer Nasser Ahmad Al Shaibi and top industry leaders attended the opening session.

The four-day conference is aimed to raise the level of disclosure and transparency in the Qatari capital market and enhance the efficiency of financial markets.

The radical changes in Qatar’s investment law will help the country to push its doing business index significantly up. A special panel set up by the Cabinet is working hard to improve the country’s investment ecosystem, he said.

Sami wanted Qatar’s asset management companies to focus on producing better research materials and let the potential investors to know about asset quality of the country.

“The industry lacks quality research on assets in Qatar. It must produce better research materials and help investors to get the culture of reading investor research, instead of letting them depend on social media information about Qatar’s asset quality,” he said.

Mubarak Al Sulaiti, Chairman of Al Sulaiti Law Firm-Doha said Qatar’s investment-friendly laws and regulations would help further boost the country’s investment climate. “The country is heading to create an ideal investment climate. The fresh initiatives will guarantee investors an increased security and stability to their investments leading to further boost the investor confidence, which would help increase the pace of capital inflow into the country”.

“Our wise leadership is leading the country to the forefront of economic growth through enacting better investment laws. As lawyers, we believe that the rights of the investors and their obligations to the market should strike a balance “.

Akbar Khan, Senior Director, Asset Management, Al Rayan Investment stressed the need for the market regulator discussing and consulting with all the stakeholders. The regulator should take asset managers, investors and the service providers into confidence.

One of the challenges the market practitioners were facing in Qatar previously was the presence of more than one regulatory. It is good to see an increasing harmonization between these different entities. And the fantastic example of this greater harmonization is that all the three regulators for the first time put out a joint document with regards to the recently launched Exchange Traded Funds. That was an example of fantastic success. But there are still gaps, like any other efficient market, where the regulations can be improved over time, he said.

Andreas Goldau, head of Investor Relation, Ooredoo wanted the companies to use the advancement in technology as better tools to reach out to potential investors and expand their investor base.“We are doing more and more webcasts. It’s cost-efficient, help us to cut travelling costs. It’s always good to use technology as most-efficient way to reach out to the investors.”

Steve Wallace, CFA Institute, London also spoke. Umair Siddique, CFA Society Doha, was the moderator