The license represents Barclay’s first significant geographical expansion in the Middle East since it first began operating in the region from the UAE over 30 years ago.
Establishing a permanent presence in Qatar will provide Barclays with another platform from which to further develop its presence in the region and accelerate its growth, the lender said.
The move comes as Barclays, which has clearly stated its intention to increase the proportion of income it generates from outside the UK, focuses on some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
Qatar has the highest per capita income in the Middle East and a GDP per capita which is among the highest in the world.
The banking license to operate from the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) will initially cover products from the group’s investment banking arm, Barclays Capital.
Barclays has also applied to operate its global retail and commercial banking, and Barclays wealth arms, under the same banking license, and will be seeking the approval for these additional activities from the QFC regulatory authority over the coming weeks. The expansion into these activities will further boost its presence in the country.
Barclays aims to be amongst the world’s leading banks and it is crucial that we gain customer confidence in our capabilities across the right segments, regions and products. To do this we need to ensure that we have the right geographic footprint which leads us to growing markets such as Qatar, commented Cyrus Ardalan, vice chairman and head of Middle East and North Africa investment banking at Barclays Capital.
