Morgan Stanley licensed to establish office in Qatar

Notes and media contacts

Morgan Stanley in the Middle East Morgan Stanley has been active in the Middle East region since the 1970s, providing a variety of investment banking, asset management and wealth management services.

Recent transactions in the region include:
• Acted as Global Coordinator and Sole Structuring Advisor for the issuance of $1.55bn Notes for the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC)
• Acted as Joint Bookrunner for €4.8bn accelerated bookbuild offerings for KPC's Sanofi-Aventis shares in two separate transactions
• Created a consortium for Saudi Oger in its $6.55bn acquisition of the 55% stake in Turk Telecom
• Acted as Joint Bookrunner for Mashreqbank's two Floating Rate Notes offerings totalling $625MM
• Lead managed $500MM Floating Rate Note offering for Emirates Bank
• Acted as Joint Global Coordinator for the IPO of Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI)

Qatar Financial Centre
The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) is a financial and business centre established by the Government of Qatar and located in Doha. It has been designed to attract international financial services institutions and major multi-national corporations and to encourage participation in the growing market for financial services in Qatar and elsewhere in the region. The QFC will operate to international standards and provide a first class legal and business infrastructure for those operating within the QFC. The QFC was created by Qatar Law No.(7) and has been open for business since 1 May 2005.

QFC Regulatory Authority
The QFC Regulatory Authority is an independent regulatory body established by Article 8 of the QFC Law. It regulates firms that conduct financial services in or from the QFC. It has a broad range of regulatory powers to authorize, supervise and, when necessary, discipline firms and individuals. The QFC Regulatory Authority regulates firms using principle-based legislation of international standard, modeled closely on that used in London and other major financial centers. The Regulatory Authority is currently receiving applications and granting authorisations. QFC Authority The QFC Authority is the commercial, administrative and legislative body responsible for driving the commercial strategy of the QFC and for developing relationships with the global corporate community and other key institutions both within and outside of Qatar.

Contact: Hugh Fraser, Corporate Communications +44 20 7425 3923, +44 7970 690 034