Saudi Fransi Capital Plans Dubai Office as Market Opens

Saudi Fransi Capital, the investment banking arm of Banque Saudi Fransi (BSFR), plans to open an office in Dubai before the kingdom opens the Arab world’s largest bourse to foreign direct investment for the first time.

The bank expects approval to start operating in the Dubai International Financial Centre this month, Yasir Al Rumayyan, chief executive officer of the unit, said by phone yesterday. Saudi Fransi Capital International, as the Dubai office is to be named, will focus on asset management and brokerage activities.

The largest economy in the oil-producing Gulf Cooperation Council may open the stock market to overseas investors from April, three people briefed on the plans said last month. The move could attract as much as $40 billion of foreign cash into the $478 billion exchange, Schroders Plc. said in July.

“We want to be well-positioned ahead of the Saudi market opening up to foreign investors,” Al Rumayyan said. “The Dubai office will focus on attracting foreign flows into our Saudi investment funds and asset management business.”

Muskan Thacker, head of asset management and chief investment officer at Saudi Fransi Capital, will become CEO of Saudi Fransi Capital International, Al Rumayyan said. Shahjahan Mirza, currently deputy CIO at Saudi Fransi Capital, will become CIO.

Banque Saudi Fransi was the sixth largest broker in the kingdom last year, according to data from the stock exchange. The company’s fourth quarter net income more than tripled to 851 million riyals ($227 million), from 274 million riyals a year earlier, according to a statement to the Saudi bourse today

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