Citigroup plans to seek a banking licence in Saudi Arabia to bolster its business in the country by expanding into treasury and trade finance solutions.

In 2017, Citigroup secured a capital markets licence in the kingdom, enabling it to come back to this market a year later following an absence of 13 years, reported Reuters.

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In 2019, Citigroup advised Saudi Aramco on its $29.4bn listing besides on many sovereign and corporate bond deals.

Speaking on the sidelines of Saudi Arabia’s FII investment conference, Citi’s head of EMEA emerging markets business Ebru Pakcan told Reuters: “We have seen significant growth during this time and we’re still very interested in making further investments locally in the market.

“As our clients make more investments across multiple growth potential sectors, we are interested in expanding our capabilities and services locally over time by pursuing a banking license.”

The firm’s client business approach is based around catering to multinational firms across the world and tapping global investors for local market.

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“When we work with those global corporates, especially in cash management and trade finance and other treasury solutions, actually being a deposit taking institution with local payments and collections capabilities becomes important,” Pakcan added.

Ever since the Saudi government unveiled plans on privatisation of state assets, and embraced economic reforms to reduce its oil dependence, several financial institutions have been expanding in the kingdom.

This year, Standard Chartered commenced providing banking services following the receipt of a banking licence in 2019.

Pakcan also added that the UAE will serve as one of the wealth management hubs for the firm, focusing on GCC and emerging markets.