- Business
- Lesha Bank LLC (QFBQ.QA), Qatar's first independent Shari'a-compliant investment bank authorized by the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority, operates as a listed entity on the Qatar Stock Exchange and provides premium financial products and solutions to high-net-worth individuals, corporates, and institutional clients in Qatar, the MENA region, Europe, the US, and Southeast Asia. The bank functions through three primary segments—Alternative Investments, Private Bank, and Other—offering private wealth management; fixed income money market instruments; investment banking advisory encompassing mergers and acquisitions, debt advisory and capital markets, equity capital markets, and restructuring; real estate investment services; direct investments in venture capital, private equity, and real estate; private banking services including advisory, deposit accounts, brokerage, funds, treasury forex products, plain vanilla financing, and elite services; short-term liquid investments and FX products; custody services; collective investment funds; money market funds; as well as financing, construction, ownership, and leasing of real estate properties, all structured in accordance with Islamic Sharia principles. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Tornado Tower, West Bay, Doha, Qatar, Lesha Bank, formerly Qatar First Bank LLC until its name change in October 2022, has pursued aggressive expansion through strategic investments and partnerships, including a QAR 210 million acquisition of a stake in Edinburgh Airport in March 2025 to bolster its aviation and infrastructure portfolio; a QAR 540 million Shari'a-compliant indirect investment in an energy platform in September 2025; a QAR 364 million Shari'a-compliant investment in another platform; the full acquisition of Kazakhstan's Bereke Bank in October 2024 to penetrate new markets; and Memorandums of Understanding with Barwa Real Estate and subsidiary Waseef in October 2024 for real estate investment collaboration, asset management, and maintenance services.