JEDDAH, 15 July 2007 — NCB Capital, the investment services and asset management arm of the National Commercial Bank (NCB), has commenced operations as an independent subsidiary of NCB. It enjoys the distinction of being the first investment subsidiary of a local bank to be licensed by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) under the terms of its mandate that all banks in the Kingdom must separate their investment, brokerage and asset management activities from their commercial banking operations.
“NCB Capital begins its journey with the inheritance of investment experience and expertise, accumulated over the many years that have passed since NCB became the first bank in the Kingdom to introduce mutual funds to the local market,” said Ahmed Farid Alaulaqi, CEO, NCB Capital. “Our financial group’s pioneering work in developing a range of highly successful Shariah-compliant investment products and state-of-the-art stock trading technology are invaluable assets and, along with the trust of generations of Saudi citizens, constitute the priceless heritage passed on to us by the NCB. Thus enriched, we set out with every confidence of success in our mission to become the leading investment house in the region.”
Stating NCB Capital’s corporate values, he said: “We are committed to placing our clients’ interests first. Without them there is no business. We build long term relationships based on trust, understanding and alignment of interest.” He added: “We have adopted a high-performance culture of best practice disciplines that are fundamental to every decision that we make and every action that we take at every level of our operations. Working in a totally client-centric environment, our team of world class talents is dedicated to providing a wide-ranging choice of innovative investment products that will produce groundbreaking results for our clients and stakeholders by setting the benchmark for investment houses in the region.”
NCB Capital is leveraging its association with the NCB by installing self-contained shop-in-shop investment service facilities in its strategically selected branches throughout the Kingdom. Its customer-service network is being augmented by NCB Capital Investment Centers in the main cities, which will also serve customers who do not bank with the NCB.
The association with NCB is reflected in the NCB Capital logo, which incorporates the bank’s arches and uses the same green and orange colors. Unveiling the logo, he said: “The rationale behind the design and choice of colors is that we want our clients, new and old, to feel comfortable and at home with us, and what better way to do this than to establish an image that reinforces the fact that NCB Capital, although independent, is in effect the investment services and asset management arm of the NCB.”
Being the first of the new investment-dedicated and asset management financial houses in the Kingdom, and with its heritage of trust and long history of successful wealth creation, NCB Capital starts out well ahead of the field and is already on target to achieve its ambition of being the region’s premier provider of premium investment products and asset management services.