QATAR plans to have a single financial regulator by 2010, when the proposed common GCC currency is scheduled to be in place.
HE the Finance Minister Yousef Hussein Kamal told the 'CMG Alternative Investments' conference that there were plans by the government to move towards a single regulatory platform for the country's financial sector over the next three years.
A single regulator represents a structure that combines regulation in respect of supervisory responsibilities of banks, securities firms and insurance companies.
Norway was the first country to establish an integrated regulatory agency in 1986 followed by Denmark in 1988 and Sweden in 1991.
The most significant move towards a single regulatory authority however occurred in the UK where the Financial Services Authority was formed by merging nine regulators.
The arguments in favour of a unitary financial regulator are economies of scale, increased accountability as well as avoidance of problems such as competitive inequality, inconsistency, duplication, overlaps and gaps.
A popular perception is that a single financial regulator is superior because it reflects the modern financial markets, as the various sectors cannot be compartmentalised.
The Finance Minister, who is also the acting Minister of Economy and Commerce and Chairman of the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), said that the presence of the world's leading investment houses as well as local and regional firms endorsed Qatar's potential as a regional hub for the investment industry.
The conference was held under the patronage of Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Economy and Commerce HE Yousef Hussain Kamal, and was organised by Capital Management Group of Chicago in the United States, and was sponsored by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority.
Those who attended the conference included Lord Jacob Rothschild, who has established many successful companies in insurance, banking and investment; Jarvis Hollingsworth of the Texas Teachers Retirement Fund, which manages $109 billion worth assets; Harry Alverson, Managing Director of the Carlyle Group; Steve Gilbert, Chairman of Sun Capital; Dan Loeb, chairman of Third Point; and Quintin Primo Chairman of Capri Capital Investors.
© Qatar Today 2007
