Barclays has opened an office in Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District after receiving an operational licence from Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority, giving the bank authority to conduct investment banking and global markets business in the Kingdom. It has named Majed Al Hassoun to lead its local entity.
Al Hassoun is chief executive and head of investment banking at Barclays Capital Saudi. Based in Riyadh, he will cover corporate, government and institutional clients and serve as the bank’s senior representative with regulators. He reports to Khaled El Dabag, chief executive of the regional headquarters and co-chief executive and head of investment banking, Middle East.
Al Hassoun joined from State Street Saudi Arabia, where he was CEO. He previously led investment banking at Citigroup and Saudi Fransi Capital. Barclays has also appointed Abdulaziz Abdulrahman A Alshenaifi as head of markets, Abdullah AlToukhi as head of institutional coverage, Susheel Jain as chief financial officer, and Abdulrahman Alanazi as head of compliance and money laundering reporting officer. Mohammed Al-Sarhan was earlier named independent non-executive chairman of the board.
The new licence builds on a regional headquarters licence Barclays secured in 2025. Saudi Arabia’s regional headquarters programme has encouraged international firms seeking government business to establish a base in the Kingdom. Global banks including Goldman Sachs and Citi have expanded their Riyadh operations in recent years.
Barclays serves Middle East clients through investment banking, markets and private banking. Its regional franchise is led by El Dabag and Walid Mezher as co-chief executives. The office opening comes amid continued geopolitical challenges in the Gulf, while financial groups continue to pursue expansion opportunities in the region.
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