- Citigroup (C -0.7%) plans to increase the United Arab Emirates' role as an offshore booking center and is working to obtain a full banking license in Saudi Arabia, Reuters reports.
- More of the bank's multinational corporate clients have been using the UAE as a base for their businesses in the Middle East and Africa, he said.
- The UAE and Saudi Arabia are driving growth in the Middle East and Africa region, which is expected to be above the market average, said Atiq Rehman, Citi's CEO of Middle East and Africa, in an interview.
- “We are focused on what we can do within the UAE and very focused on what we can do from the UAE,” he said. “We want to grow our business here and make it into a regional offshore booking center for a lot of our loans.”
- Previously: Saudi Arabia denies shelving $200B solar project with SoftBank (Oct. 1)
- ETFs: AFK, NGE, EZA, EGPT, EIS, GULF, QAT, ISRA, KSA, ISL, ITEQ, UAE, IZRL