The world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has created enormous wealth in the past 30 years or more but, despite this, its financial sector has remained largely closed with entry strictly controlled. While briefcase bankers have breezed in from Bahrain, London and New York to grab a slice of the billions of petrodollar action available, the walls have been up, and for the past two decades the financial sector has consisted largely of just 10 banks, albeit including some joint ventures with some of the world’s biggest banks.
But change is afoot. In the middle of yet another oil boom – very different from those of 1973 and 1979 – the financial walls surrounding the kingdom are coming down fast. And on the back of a booming economy, there is a new financial dynamism, which is leading to radical restructuring of existing institutions, the creation of huge new projects and opportunities, and is attracting dozens of new players, including international heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
