He is also the managing director of the US bank’s asset management division in the country
GOLDMAN Sachs’ top executive in Saudi Arabia will leave the bank after nearly a decade running its operations in the Middle East’s biggest economy, sources said.
Khalid Albdah, chief executive officer of the company’s Saudi Arabia operations since 2015, will depart in coming weeks, according to one source, who asked not to be named as the information is private.
The executive is also the managing director of the US bank’s asset management division in the country. He joined the company in 2013 from Al Rajhi Capital, the securities arm of the kingdom’s second-biggest lender.
A spokesperson for Goldman declined to comment. Albdah did not immediately respond to a message.
Goldman has been expanding its activities in Saudi Arabia over the past year, and recently became the first Wall Street bank to be granted a “regional headquarters licence”.
The Saudi government has indicated it will stop working with international financial companies that do not have a regional base in the country.
The bank is also working on raising a Middle East-focused fund and hired Habib Saikaly from JPMorgan Chase to be based in Riyadh as head of its fundamental equity business across the Middle East and North Africa.
He is expected to oversee the fund’s development, people familiar with the matter said in July.
Goldman ranks as the third-largest adviser on equity offerings in the Middle East so far this year, Bloomberg data showed. It has worked on deals including Saudi Aramco’s US$12 billion secondary offering. BLOOMBERG
