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Singapore?s Monetary Authority Signs Agreement With Qatar?s Regulator(BestWire Services Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Monetary Authority of Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding with the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority that provides supervisory cooperation between the two authorities in banking, insurance and capital markets. QFCRA is an independent regulator of all financial institutions in the Qatar Financial Centre, which is a financial and business centre established by the government of Qatar and located in Doha. QFCRA regulates firms that conduct financial services in or from the QFC. The regulator said in a statement that it has a broad range of regulatory powers to authorize, supervised and, when necessary, discipline firms and individuals. It also regulates firms using principles-based legislation and international standards, modeled closely on the laws used in other major financial centers. The Singapore authority said its cooperation with QFCRA could help both authorities ?strengthen the supervision of cross-border operations of financial institutions under their purview.? The memorandum of understanding will take effect immediately after signing the agreement. The agreement was signed by QFCRA Chairman and Chief Executive Philip Thorpe and the deputy managing director (prudential supervision) of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Teo Swee Lian. Qatar is a small Persian Gulf country located halfway down the west coast of the Arabian Gulf. Its total land area is about 11,521 square kilometers and has a population of 1.45 million inhabitants. Doha is its capital. According to Qatar?s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are nine insurance companies operating in Qatar, five of which are national and four are agencies or branches of Arab or foreign companies. Those insurers offer various classes of insurance coverage including insurance against accidents and fire, marine and land insurance as well as health insurance etc to customers. In September, QFCRA granted authorization to HSBC Insurance Brokers Ltd. to carry on regulated activities in the QFC. (By Rebecca Ng, Hong Kong news editor: [email protected]) Copyright ? 2008 A.M. Best Company, Inc. |