Doha – Qatar: The Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA), the legal and tax arm of the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), a leading onshore financial and business centre in the region, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with R3, a global leading provider of enterprise distributed ledger technology (DLT) and services, to accelerate the development of Qatar’s financial technology industry and collaborate on initiatives to promote common interests.

Under the agreement, the QFC and R3 will work together to create a potential lab environment that caters to commercial banks and fintechs in Qatar. The partnership also aims to promote education and training on asset digitisation and the use of (DLT). The two organisations will also create working groups to observe new and emerging regulatory paradigms and support the QFC's deployment of DLT at national level.

Speaking about the partnership, Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, Chief Executive Officer of QFC, said: "We are pleased to partner with R3, a renowned financial technology company, to explore opportunities that will contribute to the growth and success of the financial technology industry in Qatar. Through this collaboration, we aim to foster innovation and create an environment that supports the growth of fintech companies in Qatar."

Commenting on the MoU, David E. Rutter, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, R3, said: “We are delighted to work with the QFC in helping to enhance Qatar’s rapidly growing fintech industry and promote exciting initiatives around asset digitalization and DLT. The QFC is already making great progress in expanding the development of fintech in Qatar, and this collaboration will further help create an environment conducive to innovation. We look forward to using our experience and expertise to assist the QFC in supporting the growth of Qatar-based fintech companies.”

Qatar's financial technology industry has grown rapidly over the past few years, driven by extensive digital transformation, government support for fintech innovation and a rising interest in digital banking and Islamic fintech.

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ABOUT QATAR FINANCIAL CENTRE

Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) is an onshore business and financial centre located in Doha, providing an excellent platform for firms to do business in Qatar and the region. QFC offers its own legal, regulatory, tax, and business environment, which allows up to 100% foreign ownership, 100% repatriation of profits, and charges a competitive rate of 10% corporate tax on locally sourced profits. QFC welcomes a broad range of financial and non-financial services firms.

For more information about the permitted activities and the benefits of setting up in QFC, please visit www.qfc.qa 

@QFCAuthority | #QFCMeansBusiness

MEDIA CONTACTS
Rasha Kamaleddine
E. r.kamaleddine@qfc.qa

ABOUT R3

R3 is a leading provider of enterprise distributed ledger technology (DLT) and services that enable the secure exchange of value in regulated industries where trust is critical. Distributed solutions developed on our platform Corda harness the “Power of 3”—R3’s distributed trust technology, connected networks and regulated markets expertise—to drive transformation in digital finance.

As one of the first permissioned distributed ledger application platforms, R3’s Corda empowers regulated institutions to realize the full potential of direct digital collaboration to solve complex multi- party workflows.

R3 maintains one of the largest DLT ecosystems in the world connecting over 400 institutions, including global systems integrators, cloud providers, technology firms, software vendors, corporations, regulators, and financial services firms from the public and private sectors.

For more information, visit www.r3.com or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.