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  • Part 15: Part 15: Interpretation and Definitions

    Amended (as from 24th December 2017).

    • Article 77 - Interpretation

      (1) In these Regulations, a reference to:
      (A) a provision of any law or regulation includes a reference to that provision as amended or re-enacted from time to time and any reference to a law includes any regulation or rule passed pursuant to such law;
      (B) an obligation to publish or cause to be published a particular document, unless expressly provided otherwise in these Regulations, includes publishing or causing to be published in printed or electronic form;
      (C) a Person includes any natural Person, body corporate or body incorporate, including a company, partnership, unincorporated association, government or state;
      (D) a calendar year means a year of the Gregorian calendar;
      (E) a month means a month of the Gregorian calendar;
      (F) the masculine gender includes the feminine and the neuter; and
      (G) writing includes any form of representing or reproducing words in legible form.
      (2) The headings in these Regulations do not affect their interpretation.
      (3) A reference in these Regulations to a Schedule, an Article or a Part using the short form description of such Schedule, Article or Part in parenthesis are for convenience only and the short form description does not affect the construction of the Article or Part to which it relates.
      (4) A reference in these Regulations to a Part, Article or Schedule by number only, and without further identification, is a reference to a Part, Article or Schedule of that number in these Regulations.
      (5) A reference in an Article or other division of these Regulations to a paragraph, subparagraph or Article by number or letter only, and without further identification, is a reference to a paragraph, sub-paragraph or Article of that number or letter contained in the Article or other division of these Regulations in which that reference occurs.
      (6) Any reference in these Regulations to “include”, “including”, “in particular”, “for example”, “such as” or similar expressions are considered as being by way of illustration or emphasis only and are not to be construed so as to limit the generality of any words replacing them.
      Amended (as from 24th December 2017).

    • Article 78 – Definitions

      The following words and phrases will where the context permits have the meanings shown against each of them:

      AML/CFT Rules means the QFCRA Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing Rules of 2010 and any amendments made to those rules.
      Beneficiary means a Person entitled to benefit under a Trust or in whose favour a discretion to distribute Property held on Trust may be exercised.
      Beneficial Owner natural person(s) who: (i) has/have ultimate ownership or Control of an entity, including natural persons who exercise ultimate effective Control over a legal person or arrangement regardless of legal ownership; and/or (ii) on whose behalf a transaction is being conducted.
      Control
      (1) for the purposes of these Regulations and the QFCA Rules, a Person exercises control over a Settlor, Trustee, Beneficiary or Protector (“Trust Persons”) where the Person:
      (A) holds 25% or more of the shares in the Trust Person;
      (B) is entitled to exercise, or controls the exercise of, 25% or more of the voting power in the Trust Person;
      (C) is able to exercise significant influence over the management of the Trust Person by virtue of shareholding or voting power, or by contractual or other arrangements, including but not limited to the Trust Person's board of directors and senior executive function; or
      (D) is able to exercise influence through other means without ownership, including without limitation, through personal or family connections to Persons in positions described above in paragraphs (A) to (C), by participating in the financing of the enterprise, or through historical or contractual associations with the Trust Person.
      (2) for purposes of this Article:
      (A) shares:
      (i) in relation to a Trust Person with a share capital, means allotted shares;
      (ii) in relation to a Trust Person with capital but no share capital, means rights to share in the capital of the Trust Person; and
      (iii) in relation to a Trust Person without capital, means interests conferring any right to share in the profits, or liability to contribute to the losses, of the Trust Person; or giving rise to any obligation to contribute to the debts or expenses of the Trust Person in the event of winding up; and
      (B) voting power, in relation to a Trust Person which does not have general meetings at which matters are decided by the exercise of voting rights, means the right under the articles of association of the Trust Person to alter the terms of its constitution.
      CRO means the Companies Registration Office established pursuant to Article 7 of the QFC Law.
      Discretionary Trust means a Trust in which the Settlor has delegated complete or limited discretion to the Trustee to decide, among other things:
      (a) when and how much Income or Property is distributed to a Beneficiary; and
      (b) which of the Beneficiaries may benefit.
      DNFBP means designated non-financial business or profession under the AML/CFT Rules.
      Express Trust means a Trust created with the Settlor's express intent declared in writing or a written declaration of Trust by the Trustee.
      Enforcer in relation to a Trust, means a Person who is appointed under a Trust Instrument to ensure that the purpose of the Trust is achieved.
      Foreign Law means any laws, regulations and rules other than the laws of the QFC.
      Foreign Trust means a Trust whose Governing Law is Foreign Law, including any Trust within the meaning of the Hague Convention.
      Governing Law has the meaning given in Article 9.
      Hague Convention is the Convention on the law applicable to trusts and their recognition, at The Hague on 1 July 1985.
      Heirship Right means any right, claim or interest in, against or to the Property of a Person arising, accruing or existing in consequence of, or in anticipation of, that Person's death, other than any such right, claim or interest created by will or other voluntary disposition by such Person or resulting from an express limitation in the disposition of the Property of such Person.
      Income means all income including rents and profits.
      Interested Person means any of the following Persons:
      (a) the Settlor;
      (b) if any rights the Settlor had in respect of the Trust and its assets have been assigned to some other Person, that other Person;
      (c) a Protector;
      (d) an Enforcer;
      (e) a Person appointed under the Trust Instrument;
      (f) a Beneficiary;
      (g) the QFC Authority or the Regulatory Authority;
      (h) a Person who, in the view of the QFC Court, can reasonably claim to speak on behalf of an object or purpose of the Trust; and
      (i) a Person who the QFC Court determines to be a Person with sufficient interest in the Trust for the purposes of these Regulations.
      laws of the QFC means any laws, regulations and rules which are applicable in the QFC.
      Licence a licence, approval or authorisation issued by the QFCA pursuant to Article 11.1 of the QFC Law.
      Licenced Firm means a body corporate, partnership or unincorporated association which has been granted and continues to hold a Licence granted by the QFC Authority.
      Minister means the Minister of Finance of the State
      Minor means a Person who has not attained the age of majority under the Governing Law of the Trust or the law of his domicile.
      Person means any person including a natural or judicial person, body corporate, or body unincorporate, including a branch, a company, partnership, unincorporated association or other undertaking, government or state.
      Pre-Existing Trust means the Trust that was established before the issuance of these revised Regulations.
      Prescribed Fee means a fee prescribed in rules made or approved by the QFC Authority.
      Prescribed Form means a form prescribed by or approved by the QFC Authority.
      Property means any movable or immovable property, and includes rights and interests, whether present or future and whether vested or contingent.
      Protective Trust means a Trust that is designed to protect the Trust Property to ensure the continued support of the Beneficiary.
      Protector in relation to a Trust, means a Person appointed under a Trust Instrument to exercise one of more of the powers set out in Article 61(2).
      QFC means the Qatar Financial Centre.
      QFC Authority means the Qatar Financial Centre Authority established pursuant to Article 3 of the QFC Law.
      QFC Court means a competent court or tribunal established under the QFC Law.
      QFC Trust means a Trust whose Governing Law is QFC Law.
      Register means a register of Trusts maintained by the QFC Authority.
      Regulations means the regulations enacted by the Minister in accordance with Article 9 of the QFC Law.
      Regulatory Authority the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority established pursuant to Article 8 of the QFC Law.
      Rules means the rules made by the QFC Authority under these Regulations from time to time.
      Settlor means a Person who provides Trust Property or makes a testamentary disposition on Trust or to a Trust.
      Terms of the Trust means the written or oral terms of the Trust or any other terms applicable under its Governing Law.
      Trust means a right, enforceable solely in equity, to the beneficial enjoyment of the Property to which another Person holds the legal title and shall include Article 2 of the Hague Convention on the law applicable to trusts and their recognition.
      Trust Instrument means an instrument by which a Trust is created and includes a unilateral declaration of Trust and any instrument varying the Terms of the Trust.
      Trust Property means the Property for the time being held in Trust.
      Trustee means a Person appointed to act as a trustee of a Trust in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations.

      Amended (as from 24th December 2017).