Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, 6 October 2026
The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (“QFCRA”) today issued updates to the Banking Business Prudential Rules 2014 (“BANK”) and the Islamic Banking Business Prudential Rules 2015 (“IBANK”) to implement revised market risk requirements for conventional and Islamic banking business firms.
The amendments are set out in the BANK and IBANK (Market Risk) and Miscellaneous Amendment Rules 2026 (the “Rules”) and follow public consultation on Consultation Paper 2025/01: Proposed Amendments to the Prudential Framework for Conventional and Islamic Banking Business – Market Risk and Miscellaneous Amendments.
The Rules update the approach for calculating market risk capital requirements to align it with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s (“BCBS”) simplified standardised approach. They also include amendments to align BANK and IBANK with other relevant BCBS standards. In this connection, key amendments include:
- the introduction of scaling factors into the calculation of market risk capital requirements to ensure a more appropriate level of capital;
- general improvements to the components of the calculation to improve its operation and coverage of exposures, to ensure greater BCBS alignment, and to provide flexibility;
- updates to the rules on prudent valuation to ensure that positions and exposures accounted for at fair value, whether held in the trading book or banking book, are valued appropriately; and
- consequential and other amendments, including to ensure consistency within and across BANK and IBANK.
These banking amendments will come into force on 1 April 2027. Consolidated versions of both BANK and IBANK will be published on the legislation page of the QFCRA website in due course, with a further communication to follow upon publication.
The Rules also make minor miscellaneous amendments to various other rulebooks:
- the Collective Investment Scheme Rules 2010;
- the General Rules 2005;
- the Governance and Controlled Functions Rules 2020; and
- the Investment Management and Advisory Rules 2014.
These amendments clarify certain rules without changing existing requirements or imposing new obligations on firms. They will come into force on 1 November 2026.
Please click here to access the Rules.
