International Financial Services (Qatar) has been prohibited from “conducting business or providing services to any new customer”, effective immediately from 17 September.
An update from the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) watchdog stated that “IFSQ has failed to satisfy the Regulatory Authority in respect of its fitness and propriety”.
However, it “cannot disclose further information at present due to its ongoing investigation of IFSQ’s business practices”.
The company is licensed to conduct insurance mediation and can continue to service existing clients.
Chequered past
This is not the first time that IFS has run foul of the Qatar regulator.
International Adviser reported in July 2019 that the firm had been handed a $100,000 (£77,273, €85,340) fine from the QFC Regulatory Authority for anti-money laundering breaches between 2016 and 2018.
IA spoke to newly appointed chief executive Aycan Richards in July last year about her plans for the business.
But her tenure was short-lived; as she held the top role for a month, before leaving the firm in October 2019.
Not to be confused with…
IFSQ had a sister company in Singapore, under separate management, which had its licence cancelled by the local regulator in June.
Another business based in Hong Kong, also called IFS, is not connected to either the Singapore or Qatar-based companies.
