Riyadh - Mubasher: HSBC has completed the first Securities Lending transaction in Saudi Arabia, which is in line with Saudi Vision 2030, aiming to place the country among the top ten financial markets globally.

As a custodian and agent lender on the transaction for a large regional asset owner, HSBC has been enabled to borrow Saudi Arabian equities from the asset owner through its role as the prime broker, according to a recent press release.

Hence, the bank has provided a global institutional investor access to Saudi Arabia's burgeoning equities market through the transaction.

The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) is currently placed among the world's top ten exchanges, with securities amounting to about $2.4 trillion.

The Global Head of Agency Securities Lending at HSBC, Adnan Hussain, said: "Saudi Arabia’s opening up of its capital markets to Securities Lending for the first time not only allows us to help asset owners receive potentially higher returns from their Saudi investments, but also facilitates more liquidity into the market and enhance price discovery."