The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is buying up shares in Credit Suisse, the Qatari prime minister said in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday.
"We have a relation with Credit Suisse and we bought some of the stock from the market, actually, but I cannot say what percentage because still we are in the process," Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr Al Thani, who is QIA chief executive as well as the Gulf state's prime minister and foreign minister, told Bloomberg.
The interview with Bloomberg's TV channel took place prior to the opening of the Brookings Institution's branch in Doha, the Qatari capital
The sheikh also sounded off on the controversy surrounding sovereign wealth funds: "The sovereign fund is from friendly countries, especially this region. They have no political ambitions. They are looking to invest their wealth for the people of these countries."
In addition, he revealed the QIA will create $1 billion funds to invest in Finland and Malaysia (similar to the one the Qatari government's investment arm announced it would establish for Indonesia in December) and that the QIA could invest up to $15 billion in US and European banks over the next year.
Large US and European banks have been building stronger ties with Qatar since 2005, when the Gulf state founded the Qatar Financial Center in Doha.
Credit Suisse, which released full-year and fourth-quarter 2007 financial results last Tuesday, was one of three European banks which offered to underwrite the proposed buyout of UK supermarket chain operator J Sainsbury by the QIA and London-based Three Delta LLP last year, according to Bloomberg. The QIA and Three Delta announced they withdrew their bid on Nov. 5.
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