QNB aims to double foreign limits as lenders squeezed

DOHA: Qatar National Bank, the Middle East’s biggest bank, on Monday said it aimed to almost double its foreign ownership limit, nine months into a regional crisis with Doha at its center.
“QNB Group intends to recommend to the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Bank, to approve increasing the percentage of non-Qatari ownership in the company’s capital to 49 percent instead of 25 percent,” read a statement released by QNB.
The bank said it would announce the date for the EGA “in due course.”
The proposed move comes at a time of political and economic crisis for Qatar, which has seen neighboring former allies led by Saudi Arabia implement an ongoing trade boycott of Doha over accusations of ties to Iran and extremist groups. Qatar denies the allegations
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut all ties with Qatar last June.
The International Monetary Fund this month reported that Qatar had pumped $43 billion into its banks throughout the crisis, in a bid to offset plummeting deposits and foreign financing.