Addressing a press conference, Vitry said that Barclays Saudi Arabia (BSA) was honored to have received its commencement letter from the Capital Market Authority (CMA), which allows them to conduct regulated activities now. He said: "The Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, was an important market in which Barclays has a strong footprint and client base." The Kingdom now becomes the fourth Barclays operation in the region after Egypt, Qatar and the UAE.
The luncheon press conference was attended by a panel of Barclays executives including John Vitalo, Barclays' chief executive officer for Middle East and North Africa; Omar Selim, BSA chairman; Ayman Sejiny, BSA chief executive officer; and Dania Haffar Bazzy, vice president for marketing and communications.
Referring to the commencement of BSA's operation, Vitry said that the license from the Saudi regulatory authorities would further enable us to "expand our geographical presence and build upon our 35 years track record in the region."
He noted that Barclays had been among the top three banking institutions of the world in every product range that caters to the corporate/wealth segment or in terms of retail banking products and services.
"Establishing a local presence underscores our commitment to the Kingdom and to the region as a whole," said Vitalo.
"About 30 Saudi executives and graduates will be hired as start-up officers for our operation in the Kingdom," said Sejiny, adding that the bank would also enroll a number of Saudi youngsters in a staggered schedule in Barclays Graduate Program for training abroad. Then, they will be deployed in Barclays operations worldwide including the Kingdom, he said.
Sejiny said "The local offices will serve as a platform to channel the global strength of the Barclays Group to serve customers and clients in the Kingdom."
"We look forward to exploring the many opportunities that this gives Barclays and our clients and our people across the investment banking and wealth management space in Saudi Arabia over the coming years as we establish local operations," said Selim.
He pointed out that Barclays license covers all available categories of "securities business," namely dealing, (excluding margin transactions), managing, arranging, advising and providing custody. BSA, a joint stock company, will combine the size, strength and international reach of Barclays Bank PLC with local presence and local staff to deliver the best solutions for its Saudi clients, he added.
He said that BSA had a market capitalization of SR97,500,000. Barclays, on the global level, is a major financial services provider engaged in retail banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and wealth management with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, the British bank operates in over 50 countries and employs over 147,000 people.
With over 1,000 staff located on the ground in the Middle East, Barclays is also a global leader in Islamic finance and experts in Sukuk issues as well as in Shariah-compliant loan transactions.
Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for over 48 million customers and clients worldwide. It is also one of the world's 10 biggest players in the private banking sector with around $222 billion in assets under its management.
