HSBC, Qatar National Bank and Standard Chartered have been approved to provide custody services at Qatar Exchange from February 2011.
In line with the general requirements set forth by Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA), all three providers have already entered into a Depositary Agreement with Qatar Exchange that also provides for their participation in the daily cash-settlement of trades. This initial authorisation will remain valid for as long as the firms meet QFMA’s on-going regulatory requirements. While HSBC is currently providing custody services related to the handling of securities, under the new agreement, all three custodians will be able to handle the monetary side of the transactions for their customers as well.
This milestone is seen as a crucial step towards the Delivery-versus-Payment (DvP) mechanism that the Exchange aims to implement before the end of Q1 2011.
Mr Andre Went, chief executive officer of Qatar Exchange said: “This is excellent news for the Qatari marketplace and our growing number of international customers as having three leading financial institutions such as HSBC, QNB and SC offer custody services at QE will dramatically enhance our post-trade processing services while increasing the confidence of international investors that Qatar is a safe and efficient marketplace."
