Barclays secures Saudi licence, planning Riyadh office by 2026 as part of a major strategy to expand investment banking and global markets operations in the Kingdom.
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Barclays secures Saudi licence, planning Riyadh office by 2026 as part of a major strategy to expand investment banking and global markets operations in the Kingdom.
Barclays secures Saudi licence, planning Riyadh office by 2026 as part of a major strategy to expand investment banking and global markets operations in the Kingdom. The provisional licence from Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) allows Barclays to prepare for full-scale banking activities once all final regulatory approvals are secured.
The global bank has secured office space in King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) and named senior industry leader Mohammed Al-Sarhan as Independent Non-Executive Chairman of Barclays Saudi Arabia. This move follows the bank’s receipt of a Regional Headquarters licence earlier this year. Once operational, the Riyadh office will allow Barclays to work closer with Saudi corporates, institutional investors, and sovereign wealth funds, connecting them to its international banking network and services.
Barclays’ expansion aligns with Saudi Vision 2030, reflecting the Kingdom’s rapid progress as a global investment hub and the region’s headquarters program. Group CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan described Saudi Arabia as “central” to the bank’s Middle East growth strategy, adding that the return signals renewed confidence in the country’s financial liberalization and ambitious transformation. Barclays last operated in Saudi Arabia in 2014, and its re-entry matches the increasing presence of global banks such as Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and HSBC in the Kingdom.
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