State Street Corporation announced Thursday the opening of its first Saudi Arabia office, State Street Saudi Arabia Financial Solutions Company (State Street Saudi Arabia), located here. The firm's new office in the Kingdom, providing both institutional services and asset management, will strengthen its current service offering for official institutions and institutional investors in the Middle East. "Saudi Arabia itself is a strategically important country for State Street, " said Jörg Ambrosius, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa. "Having an office here is absolutely vital for us to fulfil our ambitious growth plans for the region. We are strong supporters of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman's Vision 2030 strategy, with one of its pillars being that the Kingdom becomes a global investment powerhouse. Our presence will mean that State Street Saudi Arabia will help organisations navigate an increasingly complex global financial arena." State Street Corporation is one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $33.52 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration and $3.05 trillion in assets under management. To support the new office, State Street Saudi Arabia has appointed Abdullah Saleh Bakhrebah as chief executive officer and managing director. He will be responsible for driving the overall business strategy, developing talent, pursuing growth opportunities, as well as managing relationships with local government officials and regulators. Bakhrebah has more than 12 years' experience in Saudi Arabia's banking and finance industry. Most recently, he was KSA head of product and business development for Ashmore Group. Earlier in his career, he was head of KSA institutional sales for Gulf International Bank (GIB) UK and held various trading and advisory positions at the Saudi British Bank (SABB) and HSBC's Treasury Department. State Street Saudi Arabia has also appointed Haifa Al Goufi as Middle East and North Africa (MENA) chief compliance officer and Hassan Al Khalaf as MENA chief financial officer. State Street Saudi Arabia is authorized to conduct dealing as agent, discretionary portfolio management, advising and custody activities. — SG
