BNY Mellon has received authorisation from the Saudi Arabia Capital Market Authority board of commissioners to conduct custody activities in the country.
The authorisation will see BNY Mellon open a new office located in Riyadh.
Speaking to Asset Servicing Times on the approval, BNY Mellon said: “This is an exciting first step to establishing operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia given the significance of the country to the G20 economy, as a centre of capital markets in the region, and home to some of our most sophisticated institutional clients and new opportunities.”
The new office opening is in addition to the bank’s Dubai International Financial Centre branch office and a representative office in the Abu Dhabi Global Market. It also has representative offices in Lebanon and Egypt.
BNY Mellon was recently selected as custodian for Chimera Capital’s exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking index, the first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates.
Anthony Habis, head of Middle East and Africa at BNY Mellon, added: “We are honoured that Chimera Capital has appointed BNY Mellon as global custodian for this innovative new fund, which is not only the first Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) umbrella fund, but the first SCA ETF.”
.jpg)