RIYADH, 25 September 2003 — A leading Saudi-Dutch joint venture bank, Saudi Hollandi Bank (SHB), has launched a wealth management initiative. It will enable Saudi customers to benefit from a range of worldwide wealth and investment management services and is intended to tap and ensure better management of the billions of Saudi riyals lying idle in banks whether local or abroad.
“This is the first wealth management initiative in Saudi Arabia. More than 3,800 high-worth clients have been identified,” SHB Chairman Sulaiman Al-Suhaimi and SHB board member and chief financial officer of ABN AMRO Bank, Tom de Swaan, told reporters yesterday.
Al-Suhaimi and de Swaan said the SHB had targeted some 1000 individuals as potential clients. The “Van Gogh Preferred Banking” initiative for wealth management, named after the famous painter, will enable Saudi customers to access a global network of banking centers and international banking professionals as well as a unique package of wealth management and investment products and services.
Al Suhaimi and de Swaan spoke about SHB’s total commitment to, and compliance with, Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency rules with special reference to anti-money laundering laws. In his opening remarks at the conference, Al-Suhaimi praised the Saudi government and SAMA for their support of the banking industry and for the introduction of the Capital Markets Laws. He explained, “Under the Van Gogh wealth management program, customers are assigned individual managers.”
De Swaan pointed out, “Every one of our clients is an individual with unique needs and expectations and Van Gogh offers a high level of sophistication to our Saudi clientele who are leaders in a number of fields.”
“The introduction of a program such as Van Gogh is demonstrative of the close working partnership enjoyed by SHB, ABN AMRO Bank and their customers,” said officials from the Amsterdam-based bank. SHB has 180,000 accounts of different types and its Dutch partner, ABN AMRO, serves some 15 million clients globally.
De Swaan also mentioned that SHB is becoming the global Islamic banking center of expertise for ABN AMRO’s customers worldwide. The managing director of SHB said, “The enhanced package of preferred banking services under the Van Gogh program includes the new wealth management account, a wide array of investment products and access to exclusive banking lounges around the world.”
