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RIYADH, Nov 20 (Reuters): Saudi Arabia awarded HSBC Holdings Ltd an investment banking licence yesterday, the first to be granted by market regulators in the global oil giant to a foreign bank, officials said.
They described the new licence, issued just a month before Saudi Arabia is due to join the World Trade Organisation, as a major step towards opening up competition in the kingdom's long-protected economy.
"It is a full licence," Capital Market Authority (CMA) spokesman Abdulaziz Alzoom said. "They are licensed to do everything related to the stock market-brokerage, asset management, financial advising."
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