Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) announced today that it fined Horizon Crescent Wealth LLC (HCW) over QAR 1 million for contraventions of provisions of the QFCA Rules. 

QFCA had recently imposed financial penalties on Horizon Crescent Wealth LLC (HCW) for failings regarding Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing Rules 2010 (AML/CFTR).

HCW is a QFC firm which is licensed to perform Administration of Trusts, and as such is required to comply with its legal obligations in line with the QFCA Rules. HCWs violations are evident in its failure to comply with the General Rules and Licensed Firm Assets Rules, in the QFCA Rules, especially when handling client money.

HCWs contraventions have been documented in an investigation undertaken by the Monitoring and Enforcement Department between March and June 2018. Consequently, the QFCA issued a Decision Notice in October 2019 and imposed a financial penalty of over QAR 1 million on HCW.

HCW appealed this decision to the QFC Regulatory Tribunal, and on 9 March 2020 the Tribunal dismissed the appeal and upheld the QFC Authority’s decision. HCW may still appeal the Regulatory Tribunals decision within the applicable deadline. 

The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) is an onshore business and financial center located in Doha, providing a platform for firms to do business in Qatar and the region. The QFC offers its own legal, regulatory, tax and business environment, which allows up to 100 percent foreign ownership, 100 percent repatriation of profits, and charges a competitive rate of 10 percent corporate tax on locally sourced profits.

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