The transport, telecom and banking sectors of the Qatar Stock Exchange were seen complying the most with the articles of corporate governance code as their performance was higher than the market average, said the country's financial regulator.

In its 2019 annual report, the Qatar Financial Market Authority (QFMA) said the compliance ratio of all companies with the articles of the governance code was 84.1%.

The QFMA’s governance code for companies and legal entities listed on the main market has as many as 42 articles.

The QFMA received 45 corporate governance reports for 2018 issued by the listed companies and they were evaluated according to the corporate governance code.

The reports of Qamco and Baladna were not received as they were listed at the end of 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Considering the statistics of corporate governance reports prepared by the listed companies to show the percentage of compliance with the articles of the governance code, the QFMA said the highest level of compliance was seen in the transportation sector and the lowest in the insurance.

After reviewing the 2018 corporate governance reports of the three listed transport firms, the QFMA found 97% compliance with the articles of the code and only 3% was non-compliant.

In the case of the telecom sector, which has two listed constituents, the regulator found 87% compliance with articles of governance code, while the remaining 13% were non-compliant.

In the case of the banks and financial services sector, which has 13 listed companies, they were seen complying with 85% of the articles of the governance code, whereas 15% were non-compliant.

The consumer goods and services, which considered nine constituents, saw 82% compliance with the articles of the governance code and 18% were non-compliant.

The industrials, which also considered the report of nine listed firms, had reported 82% compliance with the articles of the governance code and 18% were non-compliant.

In the case of the real estate, which has four listed constituents, the QFMA found 81% compliance with the articles of the governance code and 19% was non-compliant.

The insurance sector, which has five listed entities, had witnessed 75% compliance with the articles of the governance code.

The report found the highest percentage of disclosure for the two years was on material events, at 42% in 2019 against 33% in 2018, whereby the QFMA is to be notified immediately; followed by financial statements (28% and 26%), to be notified four times a year; basic data (22% and 23%), to be notified twice a year; and disclosure of newspapers (7% and 15%).

The QFMA said the lowest percentage of disclosure for two years for all months was relating to judicial cases and rulings by 1% for 2019 and by 3% in 2018.