{"id":1606,"date":"2025-06-25T16:17:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T16:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/corporate-governance-under-qatari-law-concept-and-application\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T07:43:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T07:43:34","slug":"corporate-governance-under-qatari-law-concept-and-application","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/corporate-governance-under-qatari-law-concept-and-application\/","title":{"rendered":"Corporate Governance under Qatari Law: Concept and Application"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<h3 id=\"introduction\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Introduction<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Corporate governance is one of the fundamental pillars of sound management, transparency, and accountability within commercial companies, particularly joint stock companies listed on financial markets. The Qatari Commercial Companies Law No. (11) of 2015 provides clear provisions defining corporate governance and establishing its regulatory framework, while assigning its regulation to the Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) under Decision No. (5) of 2016.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 id=\"what-is-corporate-governance\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is Corporate Governance?<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the Qatari Commercial Companies Law, corporate governance is defined as:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The system by which companies are directed and controlled, through which the rules governing the distribution of rights and responsibilities among various stakeholders (such as the Board of Directors, executive management, shareholders, and other relevant parties) are established, in addition to regulating the mechanisms for corporate decision-making.&#8221;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 id=\"types-of-companies-subject-to-corporate-governance\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Types of Companies Subject to Corporate Governance<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commercial companies are classified into:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>Personal Companies, such as General Partnerships, Limited Partnerships, and Joint Venture Companies.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Capital Companies, such as Public Joint Stock Companies, Private Joint Stock Companies, Partnerships Limited by Shares, and Limited Liability Companies (LLCs).<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Corporate governance rules apply directly to joint stock companies listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 id=\"the-role-of-the-qatar-financial-markets-authority-in-corporate-governance\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Role of the Qatar Financial Markets Authority in Corporate Governance<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under Article (323) of the Commercial Companies Law, the Authority is responsible for:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"1\">\r\n<li>Monitoring annual corporate governance and financial disclosure reports.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Reviewing reports and providing observations and recommendations.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Issuing binding corporate governance regulations for listed companies.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Authority issued Decision No. (5) of 2016, introducing the comprehensive Corporate Governance Code.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 id=\"objectives-of-the-qatari-corporate-governance-framework\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Objectives of the Qatari Corporate Governance Framework<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"1\">\r\n<li>Promoting the principles of sound corporate management.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Regulating relationships among stakeholders.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Enhancing transparency and disclosure.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Reducing administrative and financial risks.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Serving the public interest and supporting sustainable community development.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 id=\"core-principles-of-corporate-governance\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Core Principles of Corporate Governance<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udd39 Fairness and Equality<br \/>\ud83d\udd39 Transparency and Disclosure<br \/>\ud83d\udd39 Corporate Social Responsibility<br \/>\ud83d\udd39 Protection of the Public Interest<br \/>\ud83d\udd39 Integrity and Good Faith in Performance<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 id=\"obligations-of-listed-companies\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Obligations of Listed Companies<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"1\">\r\n<li>Submitting an annual corporate governance report signed by the Chairman of the Board of Directors.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Disclosing share ownership and interests of shareholders and board members.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Complying with the eligibility, experience, and independence requirements applicable to board members.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<li>Preparing and adopting a Board Charter that clearly defines the Board\u2019s roles and responsibilities.<br \/><br \/><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 id=\"cumulative-voting-system-for-electing-board-members\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cumulative Voting System for Electing Board Members<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cumulative voting system grants each shareholder a number of votes equal to the number of shares they own. Shareholders may allocate all their votes to a single candidate or distribute them among multiple candidates without duplication. This system provides better representation for minority shareholders in corporate decision-making.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Key Corporate Governance Committees<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nomination Committee.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Remuneration Committee.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Audit Committee.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additional committees as required by the company&#8217;s operational needs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 id=\"transparency-and-conflict-of-interest\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transparency and Conflict of Interest<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udd38 Companies are required to disclose the interests of major shareholders and senior management.<br \/>\ud83d\udd38 Conflicts of interest are regulated in accordance with Articles (26) and (27) of the Corporate Governance Code.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 id=\"conclusion\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Corporate governance constitutes one of the legislative foundations of the Qatari Commercial Companies Law. It aims to enhance transparency, balance the interests of shareholders and boards of directors, and promote sustainable economic development within a well-regulated supervisory framework. These governance mechanisms provide an essential safeguard for achieving financial stability and sound governance among Qatari companies listed on the financial market.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction Corporate governance is one of the fundamental pillars of sound management, transparency, and accountability within commercial companies, particularly joint stock companies listed on financial markets. The Qatari Commercial Companies Law No. (11) of 2015 provides clear provisions defining corporate governance and establishing its regulatory framework, while assigning its regulation to the Qatar Financial Markets [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1607,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59],"class_list":["post-1606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corporate-law","tag-51","tag-52","tag-53","tag-54","tag-55","tag-56","tag-57","tag-58","tag-59"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1606"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1608,"href":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1606\/revisions\/1608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alsahlawi.innovwide.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}