GCC banks allowed to open branches in Qatar
10 September 2015
DOHA: Qatar will allow GCC banks to open their branches in the country.
A meeting of the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment chaired by Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad
Al Thani yesterday approved a proposal by the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) in this regard.
Licences will be issued to the banks to open their branches in Qatar in keeping with QCB requirements, Qatar News Agency reported yesterday quoting the Minister of Finance H E Ali Sherif Al Emadi, who is the council’s secretary general.
Qatar currently licences 11 domestic banks and seven foreign banks. Among the foreign banks, Mashreq is the only GCC-based institution to have a Qatari banking licence. Bahrain’s Ithmaar Bank has a representative office in Qatar but not a full licence.