The Doha office of global law firm K&L Gates has advised Al Rayan Investment LLC (the investment subsidiary of Qatari bank Masraf Al Rayan) on the listing of an exchange traded fund (ETF) in Qatar. Understood to be both the first Qatari Sharia’h-compliant ETF and the largest single-country Sharia’h-compliant equity ETF in the world in terms of asset value, the fund will track the QE Al Rayan Islamic Index, a Sharia’h-compliant index of Qatari equities.

The K&L Gates team that advised on the matter was Doha partner Amjad Hussain, Washington, D.C., partner Stacey Fuller, and Doha associates Jaime Oon and Mohammed Tartir.

Amjad Hussain stated: “I am very proud to have led the team in Doha which advised on another market first in Qatar. With a leading global investment management team, we were able to apply best market practices in order to realize this highly significant ETF listing for a client that is a leader in the Qatari market.”

HaithemKaterji, Chief Investment Officer at Al Rayan Investment, said: “We are extremely pleased to have successfully listed the first Sharia’h-compliant ETF in Qatar which is also one of the largest Sharia’h-compliant equity ETFs in the world. This marks an important step forward for the Islamic asset management industry and allows all investors to tap Sharia’h-compliant investments. With their global ETF capabilities, K&L Gates supported us to present a globally recognised product to our clients.”

This is the second such ETF listing this month by the same K&L Gates team, having recently announced the ETF listing of Amwal Funds.