The QFCRA has issued a Consultation Paper outlining proposals, set out in the draft BANK and IBANK (Market Risk and Miscellaneous) Amendments Rules 2025.

The amendments aim to introduce the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s simplified standardised approach as the default method for assessing market risk, particularly for banks with less complex trading portfolios.

The proposals would require a bank’s net open position in any foreign currency other than the US dollar not to exceed 5% of its Tier 1 capital. The net open position in the US dollar would be unable to exceed 25% of the bank’s Tier 1 capital and the higher of the total net open positions in surplus or deficit across all foreign currencies (including the US dollar) would have to remain within 30% of the Tier 1 capital.

These amendments would apply to all QFC-authorised banks. The decision was issued as a Consultation Paper, allowing the Regulatory Authority to gather feedback from conventional and Islamic banks operating under the specified prudential rules.

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