Mubasher: The Qatar Financial Center (QFC) on Monday denied news that it was considering raising its stake in Deutsche Bank.
“The claims about Qatar’s intention or hints to invest further in the said institution are solely based on unsupported assumptions rather than facts or a direct statement,” QFC spokesperson Sarah Al-Dorani said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.
On Sunday, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported, citing an interview with QFC CEO Yousef Mohammed Al-Jaida, that the QFC was considering raising its shareholding in the German bank.
"We will invest in a large financial institution in Germany,” Al-Jaida said, according to the German business daily. “This was discussed on the sidelines of the Doha Forum and will be announced shortly."
Although Al-Jaida had not named the company the QFC was considering for investment, he did say it was bank, where the Qatari government already holds a stake.
Moreover, Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing was the only German top manager to attend the Doha Forum, which prompted the German newspaper to assume the “institution” in question would be Deutsche Bank.
Qatar’s stake in Deutsche Bank currently stands at 6.1%.
In September, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani had revealed plans that his country was planning to invest around EUR 10 billion (QAR billion) in the German economy over the coming five years.
