KHALEEJ TIMES, Thursday, Sep 16, 2021 | Safar 9, 1443

SAMA Governor inaugurates Standard Chartered first branch in Saudi Arabia

Under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Fahad Al Mubarak, Governor of the Saudi Central Bank, Standard Chartered today concluded a roundtable session to officially mark its entrance into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The session inaugurated Standard Chartered’s first branch in the Kingdom in the presence of José Viñals, Chairman of Standard Chartered Plc, Bill Winters, Standard Chartered Group CEO, Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO for Africa and Middle East (AME), and Yazaid Al-Salloom, CEO of Standard Chartered Saudi Arabia.

Commenting on the launch, His Excellency Dr. Fahad Abdallah Al-Mubarak, Governor of the Saudi Central Bank, said: “in line with Vision 2030, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has embarked on a wide range of important initiatives aimed at enhancing the levels of economic efficiency and competitiveness, as well as, supporting operational and regulatory frameworks. Our goal is to create an attractive environment for domestic and foreign investment, that will ultimately contribute to economic diversification and job creation. Under the guidance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom has provided a conducive environment for international organisations to operate from. We would like to welcome Standard Chartered to Saudi Arabia and we wish them great success in their contribution to the country.”

The Bank has played a hand in several prominent project financing transactions for large energy providers in Saudi Arabia, including Aramco and ACWA Power, as well as having coordinated a number of capital raising operations across the Kingdom, such as being a Global Coordinator of the Saudi government’s $2.5 billion sukuk and $5 billion bond sale organised prior to the start of the pandemic and was most recently a Joint Structurer and Bookrunner on Saudi Aramco’s landmark inaugural $6bn Sukuk which was the largest ever US$-denominated Corporate Sukuk in June 2021.

Standard Chartered has been operating in Saudi Arabia since 2010 through its capital markets operations and was a granted a full banking license in 2019 by SAMA.