Q. Why is Qatar Stock Exchange issuing the IR Rules?

A. The National Investor Relations Institute defines investor relations as 'a strategic management responsibility that integrates finance, communication, marketing and regulatory rules and compliance to enable the most effective two-way communication between a company and the financial community, which ultimately contributes to a company's securities achieving fair valuation'.

QSE believes the IR function is therefore critical to the successful development of our companies and their promotion both domestically and internationally,

However, feedback from local and international investors suggests that Qatari listed companies overall are not doing enough in the area if IR which has knock-on effects in terms of valuation, liquidity and ultimately ‘trust' in the Qatari market.

Q. Why is Qatar Stock Exchange issuing the IR Rules now?

A. QSE has established a number of initiatives in the area of IR over a period of 8 years. It is not clear that the concepts have been widely adopted on a voluntary basis and as such we are suggesting a set of mandatory rules in the area of IR (similar to those in the UAE).