Al-Horr: Kafa’a is tailor-fitted to address the needs of Qatar’s financial services sector. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

By Peter Alagos
Business Reporter



The Qatar Finance and Business Academy (QFBA) has launched Kafa’a, a first-of-its-kind training and competency framework for the banking and finance sector in the GCC region, in the presence of HE the Minister of Finance Ali Sherif al-Emadi.
QFBA chief executive officer Abdulaziz al-Horr explained that Kafa’a aims to standardise a stringent set of world-class competency development benchmarks and targeted training programmes for Qatar’s financial sector.
“We have surveyed the whole GCC landscape to find out whether there is a comprehensive competency framework covering both regulators and the industry, and I can confirm that this is one-of-its-kind in scope,” al-Horr told Gulf Times on the sidelines of the launch event held yesterday at the Four Season Hotel in Doha.
He added: “Qatar’s finance industry has competencies and a set of criteria but they are multiple ones, and there is no single competency framework, which is why industry practices are varied because the standards vary; one of the main objectives of Kafa’a is to unify these standards to achieve best practices.”
According to al-Horr, the framework model was the culmination of extensive research studies and assessment of the local market and international case studies and best practices in such developed markets as Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, and Australia.
But al-Horr stressed that Kafa’a was tailor-fitted to address the needs of the industry and elevate and advance Qatar’s financial services sector through collaborative work with key industry players and regulators.
“We have more than 100 participants representing the regulators and industry players, who participated in developing the processes of the competency framework. The competency framework is local in scope and includes our own experiences. Unlike Kafa’a, none of the models from other countries cover regulators,” he said.
Al-Horr said economic growth of Qatar’s financial sector is anchored on “robust, longstanding, local financial institutions and global powerhouse names.”
“But for it to continue its growth trajectory into more advanced and developed market levels, it must rise to world-class benchmarks and stature of competency, compliance, and regulation,” he stressed.
He added: “The establishment of Kafa’a embodies this very mission, pioneering an industry model with structure, depth and breadth, and bringing under its umbrella all stakeholders and ecosystem shapers in Qatar’s financial sector; a collaborative, knowledge-based, platform that follows through the future evolution of the sector’s key driving forces – conventional and Islamic banking, insurance and capital markets – by bridging gaps between educational and career advancement, job market gaps and competency development, and private and public sector policy and decision makers.”
Mandated by Qatar’s Financial Markets Development Committee (FMDC), al-Horr said QFBA officially started Kafa’a in March 2013.
He added that the training and competency framework encompasses key disciplines across but not limited to retail, corporate, and private banking; treasury and investments; risk management and compliance; finance; internal audit; insurance; and capital and Islamic capital markets.
“It is backed by a robust structure of financial regulators – the Qatar Central Bank, FMDC, and the QFC Regulatory Authority, which will support Kafa’a in key areas such as licensing, supervision and surveillance, consumer protection, financial stability, economics, reserve management, issuer management, financial products, intermediaries and exchanges, among others.

Qatar banks top GCC in Q3 assets growth
By Santhosh V Perumal
Business Reporter



Qatar’s banking sector registered a 11.3% growth year-on-year (y-o-y) in assets in the third quarter (Q3) of 2015, which is higher than the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) average of 7.9%, according to a study.
The asset base of banks in the UAE grew 7.5%, followed by Saudi Arabia (6.5%) and Kuwait (4.5%), Global Investment House said in its report ‘GCC Banking Sector Quarterly – Q3, 2015’.
However, on a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) basis, asset growth in the GCC banking industry was “sluggish” due to marginal increase in loan.
Loan book expansion continues to remain “strong” across the GCC markets with the banks in Qatar witnessing the highest increase of 14.1% y-o-y compared to the Gulf average of 8.7%.
Qatar-based banks maintained their loan growth momentum due to an increase in public sector spending, backed by several developmental initiatives taken by the government, prior to FIFA World Cup 2022, Global said.
Among Qatar-based lenders, Qatar Islamic Bank, Doha Bank and QNB registered higher growth in lending of 39.8%, 21.9% and 11.5% respectively, it said.
The collective loans disbursed by the GCC banks, under its coverage, increased 8.7% in Q3 2015 mainly due to net interest income which rose 4.5%; even as margins were under pressure on y-o-y basis due to a 20 basis points decline in the yield on assets, leading to a 14 basis points shrinkage in net interest margins (NIM). However, a six basis points fall in cost of fund partially offset the fall in NIM.
The net interest income (NII) of the GCC banks increased 4.5% y-o-y with that of banks in Kuwait growing the most at 5.7%, followed by the UAE (4.7%), Qatar (4.1%) and Saudi Arabia (4%).
Global said non-interest income of the GCC bank declined 5.9% y-o-y in Q3 2015 due to lower fee and investment income.
Kuwait (3.9% y-o-y) recorded a positive change in non-interest income, while the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar saw declines of 13%, 6.3% and 6.2% respectively.
Fee income of its GCC coverage reduced 2% y-o-y due to 10.7% and 3.9% falls in Saudi Arabian and Kuwait lenders. On the other hand, Qatar saw 12.6% y-o-y growth in fee income and the UAE 1%.
The overall operating expenses of GCC banks, under its coverage, grew 2.1% y-o-y in Q3 2015 primarily driven by the UAE (7.7%) and Qatar (4.9%).
Global said provision expenses of GCC bank declined 12% y-o-y, which enhanced profits. Provision expenses of all the countries, except Kuwait, shrank during Q3 2015, led by banks in the UAE (-25.6%), Qatar (-18.9%) and Saudi Arabia (-3.1%); while those of Kuwait lenders rose 2.6%.
In terms earnings, Qatar’s banking sector saw 1.8% growth y-o-y in Q3 2015, which is lower than the GCC average of 3.7%. Earnings of banks in Kuwait increased the most (12.2%), the UAE (3.1%) and Saudi Arabia (2.7%). The net earnings of GCC banks were mostly on higher net interest income and decline in provisions.
Deposits in the GCC banks witnessed 5.6% expansion y-o-y in Q3 2015 with those in Qatar reporting the maximum growth of 10.1%, Saudi Arabia (7.4%), Kuwait (3.9%) and the UAE (0.7%).


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