The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) has completed the signing of 21 memoranda of understanding (MoU) with securities regulators in the European Union. 
The MoUs were co-ordinated by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), following its review of the QFC’s legislative and supervisory framework and its approval of the QFCRA as an MoU counterparty. 
The signatories to the MoUs with the QFCRA include the securities regulators in France, UK, Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Malta, Lithuania, Greece, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Slovak Republic, Bulgaria and Austria.
The MoUs create the opportunity for QFC fund managers to manage and market funds (such as real estate funds, private equity funds and hedge funds) to professional investors in the European Union and represent a significant opportunity for asset managers authorised in the Qatar Financial Centre. 
QFCRA chief executive officer Michael Ryan said, “The network of MoUs that the QFCRA has established recognises the QFC as a leading international financial centre and establishes a platform for new and existing QFC fund managers to enter new markets and access a greater pool of investors.”
On September 11, the Qatar Financial Centre Authority will host an asset management roundtable with investment managers in the QFC to discuss the opportunities that the signing of the MoUs provides to firms.
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